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PSU rolls out parking changes

Lot changes may mean fans will need to coordinate tailgates

UNIVERSITY PARK — Never mind roster turnover as the result of graduations and transfers, the biggest initial concern for many Penn State football fans next season might be how they’ll get to Beaver Stadium and where they’ll tailgate.

Penn State Athletics concluded a second set of public meetings Friday evening as it rolled out significant changes for game day parking near the stadium and on campus.

For anyone planning to attend games next season, the changes could mean altering some traditional parking routines. In addition, the changes mean some fans might need to invest a little more time coordinating their tailgates.

Penn State plans to require those driving to games next season to make their way to certain parking lots by using specific routes. Officials believe the approach will provide consistency and reduce “artificial congestion.”

“The big thing was the general parking lots. In the past, if you had a pass, you were able to park in any of a number of lots,” said Cory Chapman, associate athletic director for facility and event operations. “But if you arrived at a lot and it was full, you’d have to turn back and find another lot. That was a big contributing factor to our problems.”

Instead of color-coded parking areas, lots around the stadium will be organized geographically (north, south, east, west) and numbered. When fans purchase a parking pass for the full season or on a game-by-game basis, it will include the number of their lot and directions to that lot.

Three levels of parking — reserved, preferred and general — remain and parking prices will not increase for 2019.

Fans in reserved and preferred lots will have assigned individual parking spots, as they have in the past. Fans in general lots must indicate a specific lot when they purchase their pass and they can only park in that lot.

That means tailgating groups with multiple vehicles will have to coordinate their efforts to make sure they have passes for the same lot.

“There were times in the past when getting to the yellow lots was a free-for-all,” said Bill Moerschbacher of Penn State police. “By being able to select a lot, my hope is that much of that will go away.”

As in the recent seasons, purchasing parking passes ahead of time will be strongly encouraged. The updated parking map includes just three game day lots that will accept cash –and those lots are located the farthest from the stadium. Last season, passes in nearly a dozen lots could be purchased with cash.

In terms of access, general lots east of the stadium along Park Avenue and near Mount Nittany Medical Center will be accessible from I-99, the most logical and shortest distance. Some other lots might not be as easily and logically accessed, but officials believe their reorganization will make access and egress easier once everyone understands the process.

Another change as part of the plan will prevent traffic flow through the intersection at Park Avenue and Porter Road/Fox Hollow Road, near the Ag Arena, once the one-way patterns begin. That’s an effort driven by safety to reduce interaction between pedestrians and vehicles.

Those who attended the informational town hall sessions offered everything from feedback about their preferred routes being altered to concerns about how they’ll meet and tailgate with friends. Others were hopeful the measures could help alleviate frustrating situations like sitting in gridlock for two hours after a night game ends.

One-way traffic patterns through the geographic zones worried some, but Penn State officials said timing of patterns would be announced well before the season begins, printed on passes and reiterated regularly during the season.

Consistency, whether implementing what time traffic begins going one way or even how parking lot attendants and supervisors enforce rules, has been a persistent problem. Chapman and Moerschbacher agreed that was an area where Penn State needed to improve.

Still, one of the biggest potential questions regarding football parking re­mained unanswered and generally unaddressed. What happens when it rains?

Although Penn State closed all grass parking lots for one game, most of the lots for another game and some lots for two other games in 2018, neither athletic department officials nor their consultant (Chicago-based SP Plus, which has worked with several professional and collegiate clients) invested time in what-if scenarios in the event of foul weather in the future.

“That was not really part of our focus,” Chapman said. “We focused on the infrastructure and system. It’s really more about safety and efficiency. We want our fans to have the best experience possible.”

One longtime parking lot worker said, “Last season was the worst ever.” That was in part because of those closed lots, which inconvenienced thousands of fans and caused some public relations problems when prepaid pass holders were not offered a refund or voucher.

Chapman said costs for shuttles and off-site parking were significant. Any type of refund approach does not seem likely if rain prevents parking in grass lots in the future.

That same lot worker, who’s been on the job for nearly 20 years, said last season was the first time Penn State officials had ever conducted a preseason meeting with all of the parking employees. He believes improved communication (between Penn State and game day employees as well as between Penn State and fans) is the key to success.

He thinks common sense can play a bigger role as well, acknowledging a personal frustration that, depending on the supervisor or the specific employees working in the lots, how and which rules are enforced can change from week to week. Many others coming to the stadium have experienced similar frustrations with traffic patterns changing from game to game.

Along with self-imposed inconsistencies and uncontrollable weather, ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber can frustrate planners, those working in parking lots and other drivers. Chapman said Penn State was working to create drop-off areas for those services that would enable them to operate without interrupting preferred traffic patterns.

Penn State also said it would invest in better signage regarding football parking for the coming season.

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