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This map shows the routes Browns fans will be directed to take in lieu of the pedestrian bridge over the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. City officials on Monday announced the bridge will be closed indefinitely.

(City of Cleveland)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Many Cleveland Browns fans will be forced to take a different path to walk to FirstEnergy Stadium on game days.

On Monday, Cleveland officials announced that the pedestrian bridge leading to FirstEnergy Stadium that spans the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway will be closed indefinitely.

In a news release, city officials also announced the Muni Lot will open for tailgating at 7 a.m. this Saturday in advance of a scheduled 8 p.m. preseason game against the St. Louis Rams, the first home game of the year. The fee for parking in the lot remains $20 per space. City police will not allow vehicles to line up or stage on the Shoreway before game time.

City officials said closing the pedestrian bridge in favor of two alternative routes, which will be marked with signs, will keep pedestrians safer and improve traffic flow around the stadium.

Which route pedestrians will be directed to take will depend on where they parked.

Those coming from the Huntington parking garage at West 3rd Street and Lakeside Drive will be asked to head west toward 3rd Street, and then north to the southwest and northwest gates of the stadium.

Those coming from the Willard parking garage, at 601 East Lakeside Drive (next to City Hall), will be directed to head east toward East 9th Street, turn north on 9th Street, turn west at Erieside Avenue, and then head toward the southwest and northeast gates of the stadium.

Messages left with a spokesman for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson seeking more information about the reasons for the bridge closure were not immediately returned.

Besides closing the pedestrian bridge, city officials have tweaked game day traffic routing, including opening the on-ramp at East 55th Street to Interstate 90, blocking access to East 9th street from the Marginal roads and staffing additional intersections with traffic controllers.

The city will also add fencing to keep fans from wandering onto the Shoreway or Shoreway ramps.

City officials reminded fans that open containers, consumption of alcohol and public intoxication are banned in the Muni Lot. Private latrines in the lot are prohibited -- the city will provide 50 portable restrooms.

The city also said that parking restrictions -- which will be labeled with neon signs attached to posts, poles and parking meters -- will be imposed three hours before each game, and for two hours after the games are over.

Vehicles will be towed to the One Stop Vehicle Impound Center at 3040 Quigley Road, where fans to have a vehicle released can be paid, city officials said.

"Whether you plan on heading straight to the game or tailgating, we want everyone to have an enjoyable and safe time when they come downtown," Director of Public Safety Michael McGrath said in a written statement. "When you have tens of thousands of people converging on one area of the city in a short period of time, there's always the potential for any multitude of traffic hazards and we want to mitigate those concerns."