Here is what Gate typically does for early arrivers on Sunday:
First to show up go into D-Lot, the punishment zone for showing up before the event actually opens. In D-Lot the first people in are the
last people out of the lot. This is to discourage arrival before midnight.
If D-Lot becomes full (when?) then a line is formed at the Gate with no one entering the city until midnight.
If the BLM says that traffic is backing up on the highway and we must let people in, then the Gate opens. Gate does not make the call, the BLM does. And every time this happens the future of the event is put in peril because this is a direct violation of the agreement in the BLM Event Permit.
Once the Gate is open, 6 or 7 lanes of new comers and one lane of D-Lot survivors enter the city, being searched as fast as the Gate volunteers can manage. Once D-Lot is empty (dawn?) then all lanes are used for entry from the highway.
The line still extends to the highway at dawn. (Note the D-lot line coming in from the right to meet the line to the horizon of incoming traffic.)
