Photo Courtesy Brittany Ryan

Downtown Austin's streets see the influx of visitors during the 2011 festival.

With South by Southwest happening March 8–17, the City of Austin will see many full and partial street closures, leaving many Austinites in need of alternative routes and modes of transportation.

The city has created an interactive map that highlights available ground transportation, shuttle routes and road closures. The map that may be accessed via smartphones or the city's website at www.austintexas.gov/department/transportation.

For those who would prefer to travel via bicycle, SXcycles provides complimentary bikes and more for Platinum, Gold, Interactive, Film and Music registrants. The bicycles may be picked up at 513 E. Cesar Chavez St., directly across from the Austin Convention Center.

Partial and full street closures include:

Rainey Street will be closed daily between 6 p.m.– 3 a.m. March 8–17. Traffic must enter at River Street and there will be restricted access reserved for local businesses and residents.

East Fifth Street, from I-35 to Waller Street, will be closed from 6 p.m. March 12– 3 a.m. March 17.

Trinity Street from Cesar Chavez Street to Fourth Street, will be closed from 7 a.m. March 8–3 a.m. March 17. East Second and Third streets from San Jacinto Boulevard to Trinity Street will also be closed during this time, and open only to local traffic.

For a complete list and interactive map of street closures, visit the city's website.

Other useful websites:

The City of Austin's department of transportation

The City of Austin's SXSW website

Our SXSW Guide