San Francisco

San Francisco 49ers Prepare for Final Dress Rehearsal at Levi's Stadium; Last Preseason Game There Sunday

The San Francisco 49ers get one more dress rehearsal Sunday before their first regular season home game.

With stadium parking and turf still needing some tweaking, it is unclear what kind of experience the fans or the players will have.

The Young family from Milpitas are lifelong 49ers fans. They came to see Levi’s stadium Saturday night before Sunday’s game, and they said they believe events here have gone pretty well.

"It was a lot of traffic, but I think it was much better than San Francisco," Howard Young said.

At Great America Parkway, Tasman and 237 did get jammed last weekend. When drivers exited the freeway, they had to make their way past the pedestrians.

"It was about an hour-and-15 to an hour-and-30-minutes from the time we got off the highway until we actually got into our parking lot," Joe Durrenberger of Brentwood told NBC Bay Area last week.

More than 60,000 people attended the first 49ers preseason game at Levi's Stadium last Sunday. Security lines moved quickly, and because of a painful defeat, many fans left early which may have eased congestion.

But Sunday is a new game--a new test to be played out on new turf. The 49ers replaced the original because they felt like it was too slippery.

Pictures were taken Saturday by a fan on a tour at Levi’s Stadium, and he tweeted these photos:

The 49ers said the turf is twice as thick as before and is laid down with an improved process to help it stick.

Young said he thinks it will all work out. He is just ready for a win.

"Nothing’s perfect," he said. "They got it 99 percent perfect, so 1 percent is no big deal."

The 49ers sent NBC Bay Area this statement about the turf:

"The turf has been set, but there is no way to know if the turf is 'holding up' until you play in it. We are confident it will be ready for the game."

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. against the San Diego Chargers.

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