ECHO PARK — Residents living near Dodgers Stadium are supposed to receive placards and “neighborhood protection information” beginning today that will allow them to drive beyond police check points and barricades that will be set up on game days, according to Councilman Mitch O’Farrell.

O’Farrell, during a heated community meeting last week with the Dodgers, asked team representatives to postpone the reopening of the stadium’s Scott Avenue entrance until the placards had been created and distributed, allowing residents to get around a police checkpoint planned for game days at Scott and Echo Park avenues. The Dodgers apparently kept the Scott Gate closed during the Freeway Series games but it looks like it will now be open for this week’s season opener on April 4.

Many Echo Park residents fear that the reopening of the Scott Gate during the entire season will only worsen traffic congestion and problems in the primarily residential area west of the stadium. Dodger management, which has kept the gate shut for nearly 20 years with the exception of high-attendance games, said it needs to open the entrance to handle what is expected to be record-high attendance this year to help relieve traffic back ups at the ballpark’s other entrances. The plan is to direct traffic headed for Stadium Way Gate A (formerly called the Sunset Gate) to the Scott Avenue entrance.

In addition to the police check point and placards for residents, the Dodgers’ “Neighborhood Protection Plan” includes the installation of temporary barricades at several intersections near the stadium and changeable message signs. Residents who do not receive a placard should contact Oscar Delgado with the Dodgers at 323-224-1443 or oscard@ladodgers.com, according to Council District 13.