Game to cause traffic woes
Tuesday's
contest will close Lot Q and Barstow Avenue
Ryan Tubongbanua
/ The Collegian
Lot Q will only take
cars with football parking passes on Tuesday. Students are encouraged
to find parking near the Save Mart Center. |
By Maurice O. Ndole
The Collegian
Students who park their cars
in Lot Q located on Barstow Avenue in the afternoon should plan on finding
other places to park their cars tomorrow because the lot will be closed,
a university official said.
University Police Events Coordinator Tom Gaffery said Lot Q, which contains
1,326 parking stalls, will be closed at 11:30 a.m. because of the Fresno
State versus Toledo University football game.
He said Lot Q will be reserved for those with football parking passes.
Gaffery said alternative parking will be made available in lots on the
east side of the campus such as Lots T, J, V, A, C and the Save Mart Center
parking lot.
Gaffery said he couldn’t tell for sure how many fans were coming
to the game, but his team is putting an operation plan in place to deal
with a sold-out crowd. Bulldog Stadium can accommodate more than 40,000
people.
According to a notice in the university Web site, fresnostatenews.com,
the school estimates about 60,000 people will be on campus Tuesday.
The Web site said the university plans to help ease congestion during
the game by offering 18 golf carts marked “Shuttle” to transport
students and faculty around campus from 3 p.m. until the end of the football
game.
The shuttle service will also be available on request before 3 p.m. by
calling the police dispatch number, 278-8400, the Web site said.
The notice advised students and faculty coming to campus in the afternoon
to approach the school from the east and park in the lots located in the
eastern side of the campus.
The closure of Lot Q will not, however, affect students who arrive at
school before 11:30 a.m. The students will be allowed to park their cars
in the lot but they will be required to follow specific directions when
leaving.
“After 11:30, Barstow will become a one way street westbound,”
Gaffery said. “After the game is over, it w ill be a one-way street
eastbound.”
To provide faculty with alternative parking areas to the ones near Barstow
Avenue, Gaffery said the restriction on faculty parking in Lot D near
the Henry Madden Library would be extended to 8 p.m. instead of the usual
7 p.m. when students with green permits are usually allowed to park in
faculty parking slots.
Gaffery advised students to plan ahead so they’re not inconvenienced
by the changes.
He said there would be normal security on campus but the university plans
to bring almost 100 additional police officers to help with security during
the game.
Students parking on the east end of the campus won’t have the parking
lots to themselves. Gaffery said football fans would be allowed to park
their cars in the lots for a fee.
“The eastside of campus will have parking personnel selling permits
at $5 per fan,” Gaffery said.
Gaffery said the Tuesday game was a challenge to his department and they
would use the experience to plan for future games that fall on a weekday.
“We’ve never had a Tuesday game before, we normally have games
on Thursdays when there are less night classes,” Gaffery said.
College football games are usually played on Saturday, but the Tuesday
game was scheduled so it could be televised nationally by ESPN.
The game starts at 6 p.m. and is expected to end at about 10 p.m.
Parking administrator Lupe Shrum could not be reached for comment.
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