Cleveland braces for Billy Joel, Nicki Minaj concerts plus Guardians game Friday night

It will be a night for the ages.

Thousands of people and as many cars are expected in Cleveland Friday night as an all-star line up of events are likely to draw huge crowds all vying for parking spaces.

Billy Joel and Rod Stewart are taking the field for a concert at Huntington Bank Field .

Across town, Nicki Minaj and her Pink Friday 2 World Tour will be at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Joel's concert starts at 7 p.m., while Minaj starts at 9 p.m.

Gates for the Joel concert open at 5:30 p.m.

And a baseball throw away, the Cleveland Guardians will be hosting the Tampa Bay Rays in a nationally televised game at 7:15 p.m. at Progressive Field.

As if all that wasn't enough, there are a pair events at Playhouse Square Friday night including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live Concert.

The city has already announced some road closures and parking restrictions will be in place downtown, where parking lot fees are expected to be pretty steep.

What parking restrictions will be in place in Cleveland?

Erieside Avenue from East 9th Street to the north side of the football stadium will have no parking from 6 a.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday.

Further parking restrictions will be in place from 3 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday on other streets.

They include:

• Lakeside Avenue – From East 9th Street to West 9th Street
• St. Clair Avenue – From East 9th Street to West 9th Street
• East 9th Street – From Lakeside Avenue to Carnegie Avenue
• West 9th Street – From Front Avenue to West Superior Avenue

What exit ramps and roads will be closed in Cleveland?

Cleveland will also be closing several exit ramps and roads on Friday.

Al Lerner Way along with portions of Erieside Avenue will be closed from 6 a.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday.

The West 3rd Street exit ramp from state Route 2 westbound and the East 9th Street exit ramps from both Rt. 2 westbound and eastbound will be closed from 5 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday.

Access to Route 2 from West 3rd Street and westbound from East 9th Street will be open until 5 p.m.

And while the concerts are going on, access to Route 2 from East 9th Street will only be open from Lakeside Avenue.

The Pit Lot along with the Huntington Park Garage and the Muni Lot will be open.

Public transportation options for the concerts

Cleveland officials are suggesting folks take public transportation on Friday.

The Greater Cleveland RTA's Waterfront Line will be operating from Tower City to Huntington Bank Field.

The first train will leave Tower City at 4 p.m. and the last run from the field will be at 11:57 p.m.

Service will run every 15 minutes.

An all-day pass from the various train stations is $5.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland braces for Billy Joel, Nicki Minaj concerts plus Guardians game Friday night