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College Game Day Traffic

Started by Dirt Roads, August 09, 2022, 09:12:31 PM

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Dirt Roads

Starting a new thread on college football game day traffic, mainly related to Interstate routes.  Feel free to go down some other related rabbit holes.


Dirt Roads

Quote from: Dirt Roads on August 08, 2022, 03:18:06 PM
The modern day culture of NOVA is so closely related to Virginia Tech football ....

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 09, 2022, 11:34:33 AM
That seems like a serious exaggeration. I've lived in Northern Virginia since 1974 and the only football that's ever really been a part of the local "culture" was the great Redskins teams of the first Joe Gibbs era (the 1990s through 1992) when they played in four Super Bowls, won three, and advanced to one other NFC championship game. Those teams were an integral part of the DC area as a whole, though, and were one of the very few things in this area that ever cut across all sorts of social divisions like race or economic status. Despite the Washington Post acting like everyone in the DC area loves the University of Maryland's football program, I don't think any sort of college football has ever been part of the "culture" here–or, for that matter, really any college sports at all beyond the general universal popularity of the NCAA basketball tournament. Sure, there are plenty of VPI fans and alumni, but to call it part of the "culture" is a major exaggeration.

I realize that I have a strong bias on this topic, as even I fell for the "Ooh, NOVA is close enough to Blacksburg for me to get season tickets to watch Michael Vick syndrome" (I had season tickets for two years).  But here's my logic behind NOVA: 

(1) The majority of in-state students at Virginia Tech are from NOVA.  The same should also be true at UVA, but I'm not sure about that.
(2) NOVA is the bigger part of Washington DC high-tech metro area, by far the largest in the United States. 
(3) The three top high-tech alumni bases in the Washington DC are (1) Virginia Tech; (2) Penn State; and (3) Maryland (sometimes Maryland is higher than Penn State)
(4) Since Maryland has not done well in the Big Ten, the Washington DC college football market is currently dominated by Virginia Tech and Penn State.
(5) High-tech careers are very well paid.  I wished that I had gotten one of those jobs, but alas I ended up in high-tech railroading (world's biggest oxymoron at the time).
(6) Starting in the early 1980s, engineering students at Virginia Tech started a bunch of crazy traditions in Lane Stadium such as the drink cup snake (which is not COVID-friendly).
(7) Virginia Tech is consistently ranked in the Top 10 of best travelling fanbases during Bowl Game season.  Probably because the home games involve travel from NOVA and Richmond.

The company that I worked for in NOVA was not representative of that area's high-tech industries, but we still had several folks that regularly travelled to Blacksburg for games (and one fellow that regularly travelled to Clemson).  Most of my friends in NOVA were occasional travellers to Blacksburg on game days.  Back in 1999, it was my impression that more than half of the 65K fans in Lane Stadium were driving from NOVA to Blacksburg every weekend, which still pales in comparison to the traffic on I-40 funnelling into Knoxville from Nashville/Memphis.

Addressing your valid comment about the Washington team formerly known as something else, I grew up in a section Redskins territory in West Virginia and was a huge fan.  After the Joe Gibbs era, RFK Stadium was nearly empty so I thought I would finally be able to get seats for a game.  Couldn't get tickets at any price.  I eventually gave up on the NFL and professional sports in general.  Quite frankly, I've also given up on college sports.  But indeed, I agree that pro sports are big in the DC area.  But unlike New York, that is not at any cost to college sports.  The Penn State fanbase on the Maryland is quite rabid, and I suspect that many of them head up I-270/US-15 towards Happy Valley on game days.

ran4sh

#2
GDOT has never said this outright, but I suspect that college football game traffic is the reason, or one of the main reason, that GA 10 Loop (a freeway beltway around Athens) has exit numbering increasing going counterclockwise instead of clockwise like the MUTCD says.

With the MUTCD numbering (which was used from 1999 to 2004), fans from metro Atlanta get on 10 Loop at exit 1, and get off at exit 14, after having traveled six miles.

With the counterclockwise numbering (which has been used since 2004), fans from metro Atlanta get on 10 Loop at exit 1, and get off at exit 7, after having traveled six miles.

One of those schemes makes a lot more sense than the other.
Control cities CAN be off the route! Control cities make NO sense if signs end before the city is reached!

Travel Mapping - Most Traveled: I-40, 20, 10, 5, 95 - Longest Clinched: I-20, 85, 24, 16, NJ Tpk mainline
Champions - UGA FB '21 '22 - Atlanta Braves '95 '21 - Atlanta MLS '18

NWI_Irish96

On Notre Dame game days, inbound traffic on pretty much every road gets heavy, but the IN Toll Road EB from the 80/94 junction to the ND exit and US 31 NB north of Kokomo are the two routes where it's the heaviest.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

webny99

I've noticed Penn State game days make a pretty good case for why something needs to be done about US 322 east of State College (between Boalsburg and Potters Mills). The two/three lane section backs up terribly with traffic leaving town.

Alps

Rutgers: does not cause issues on Interstates. traffic queues onto River Rd. from 287 but I haven't seen it back onto 287.

GaryV

Michigan (I-94 and also M-14) and Michigan State (I-96 and I-496)

ET21

NIU is easy, everyone uses Annie Glidden Rd for access from I-88 (mostly city/suburban fans). Lincoln Highway (IL-38) provides access from the west and from I-39
The local weatherman, trust me I can be 99.9% right!
"Show where you're going, without forgetting where you're from"

Clinched:
IL: I-88, I-180, I-190, I-290, I-294, I-355, IL-390
IN: I-80, I-94
SD: I-190
WI: I-90, I-94
MI: I-94, I-196
MN: I-90

JayhawkCO

KU games can cause some congestion on K-10 as most of those that commute to the games are coming from Johnson County.

ran4sh

As for the congestion caused by UGA games.

Athens notably has no Interstates, but the games do cause congestion as far away as I-85 and occasionally I-20. I've heard some people say that they have encountered GA 316 being turned into one-way when leaving the game, although I've found nothing official that confirms this.

The GA 10 Loop beltway is useful to manage post-game traffic, what happens is some campus lots are directed to enter the loop going clockwise while other lots are directed to enter counterclockwise, but either way traffic is instructed to continue in that direction until reaching the exit they want (i.e. even if it would normally be the "long" way around the beltway).
Control cities CAN be off the route! Control cities make NO sense if signs end before the city is reached!

Travel Mapping - Most Traveled: I-40, 20, 10, 5, 95 - Longest Clinched: I-20, 85, 24, 16, NJ Tpk mainline
Champions - UGA FB '21 '22 - Atlanta Braves '95 '21 - Atlanta MLS '18

skluth

Quote from: Dirt Roads on August 09, 2022, 09:12:57 PM
Quote from: Dirt Roads on August 08, 2022, 03:18:06 PM
The modern day culture of NOVA is so closely related to Virginia Tech football ....

Quote from: 1995hoo on August 09, 2022, 11:34:33 AM
That seems like a serious exaggeration. I've lived in Northern Virginia since 1974 and the only football that's ever really been a part of the local "culture" was the great Redskins teams of the first Joe Gibbs era (the 1990s through 1992) when they played in four Super Bowls, won three, and advanced to one other NFC championship game. Those teams were an integral part of the DC area as a whole, though, and were one of the very few things in this area that ever cut across all sorts of social divisions like race or economic status. Despite the Washington Post acting like everyone in the DC area loves the University of Maryland's football program, I don't think any sort of college football has ever been part of the "culture" here–or, for that matter, really any college sports at all beyond the general universal popularity of the NCAA basketball tournament. Sure, there are plenty of VPI fans and alumni, but to call it part of the "culture" is a major exaggeration.

I realize that I have a strong bias on this topic, as even I fell for the "Ooh, NOVA is close enough to Blacksburg for me to get season tickets to watch Michael Vick syndrome" (I had season tickets for two years).  But here's my logic behind NOVA: 

(1) The majority of in-state students at Virginia Tech are from NOVA.  The same should also be true at UVA, but I'm not sure about that.
(2) NOVA is the bigger part of Washington DC high-tech metro area, by far the largest in the United States. 
(3) The three top high-tech alumni bases in the Washington DC are (1) Virginia Tech; (2) Penn State; and (3) Maryland (sometimes Maryland is higher than Penn State)
(4) Since Maryland has not done well in the Big Ten, the Washington DC college football market is currently dominated by Virginia Tech and Penn State.
(5) High-tech careers are very well paid.  I wished that I had gotten one of those jobs, but alas I ended up in high-tech railroading (world's biggest oxymoron at the time).
(6) Starting in the early 1980s, engineering students at Virginia Tech started a bunch of crazy traditions in Lane Stadium such as the drink cup snake (which is not COVID-friendly).
(7) Virginia Tech is consistently ranked in the Top 10 of best travelling fanbases during Bowl Game season.  Probably because the home games involve travel from NOVA and Richmond.

The company that I worked for in NOVA was not representative of that area's high-tech industries, but we still had several folks that regularly travelled to Blacksburg for games (and one fellow that regularly travelled to Clemson).  Most of my friends in NOVA were occasional travellers to Blacksburg on game days.  Back in 1999, it was my impression that more than half of the 65K fans in Lane Stadium were driving from NOVA to Blacksburg every weekend, which still pales in comparison to the traffic on I-40 funnelling into Knoxville from Nashville/Memphis.

Addressing your valid comment about the Washington team formerly known as something else, I grew up in a section Redskins territory in West Virginia and was a huge fan.  After the Joe Gibbs era, RFK Stadium was nearly empty so I thought I would finally be able to get seats for a game.  Couldn't get tickets at any price.  I eventually gave up on the NFL and professional sports in general.  Quite frankly, I've also given up on college sports.  But indeed, I agree that pro sports are big in the DC area.  But unlike New York, that is not at any cost to college sports.  The Penn State fanbase on the Maryland is quite rabid, and I suspect that many of them head up I-270/US-15 towards Happy Valley on game days.

SE VA also has a large number of both Virginia and VT fans. Quite a few grads from both schools end up in Tidewater, both supporting the military directly and supporting many of the smaller (and some larger like Leidos) contractors. My impression was there was more support for VT than Virginia, but that may be because I lived there just after the Michael Vick VT years in the mid-aughts and his younger brother (both from Tidewater) had taken over as starting QB, not to mention coach Frank Beaman's popularity.

triplemultiplex

Quote from: ran4sh on August 10, 2022, 12:14:05 PM
Athens notably has no Interstates, but the games do cause congestion as far away as I-85 and occasionally I-20. I've heard some people say that they have encountered GA 316 being turned into one-way when leaving the game, although I've found nothing official that confirms this.

I really think it would be beneficial to upgrade GA 316 to a full freeway all the way to Athens and slap an x85 on it.




Living in a college town, I oddly don't really see the game day traffic.  Because I usually never have to go anywhere on Saturdays.  I'm either out of town already or I'm not needing to drive when folks are coming and going from Camp Randall.  And if I go to a game, I actually live close enough to just walk.  (Or bike if I'm not drunk. :P )
Park Street seems to load up with cars, of course, as the main approach to the Stadium from the freeway system.  But I've never personally observed the Beltline on game days.  Haven't had the need to go near it at those times since I moved here.  Go figure.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

tchafe1978

Quote from: triplemultiplex on August 10, 2022, 01:08:00 PM
Quote from: ran4sh on August 10, 2022, 12:14:05 PM
Athens notably has no Interstates, but the games do cause congestion as far away as I-85 and occasionally I-20. I've heard some people say that they have encountered GA 316 being turned into one-way when leaving the game, although I've found nothing official that confirms this.

I really think it would be beneficial to upgrade GA 316 to a full freeway all the way to Athens and slap an x85 on it.




Living in a college town, I oddly don't really see the game day traffic.  Because I usually never have to go anywhere on Saturdays.  I'm either out of town already or I'm not needing to drive when folks are coming and going from Camp Randall.  And if I go to a game, I actually live close enough to just walk.  (Or bike if I'm not drunk. :P )
Park Street seems to load up with cars, of course, as the main approach to the Stadium from the freeway system.  But I've never personally observed the Beltline on game days.  Haven't had the need to go near it at those times since I moved here.  Go figure.

University Avenue/Johnson St. and Midvale Blvd are usually pretty packed on game days. The Beltline usually isn't too bad. I-94 to/from Milwaukee can be bumper to bumper the whole way on game days as well.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: skluth on August 10, 2022, 12:37:22 PM
SE VA also has a large number of both Virginia and VT fans. Quite a few grads from both schools end up in Tidewater, both supporting the military directly and supporting many of the smaller (and some larger like Leidos) contractors. My impression was there was more support for VT than Virginia, but that may be because I lived there just after the Michael Vick VT years in the mid-aughts and his younger brother (both from Tidewater) had taken over as starting QB, not to mention coach Frank Beaman's popularity.

Having lived in Richmond myself, I can attest that there is quite a surge of traffic on I-64 through the city and northwest towards Charlottesville on Saturday game days when UVA is not playing at home.  That was a long time ago before Virginia Tech football became part of the Tidewater culture.  It's only 310 miles from Norfolk to Blacksburg (about 5 hours), which just a hair less than when I roadtripped to a game in Blacksburg from Greensburg, Pennsylvania (now almost exactly the same time/distance).  I started out at 5AM and arrived for a noontime kickoff with plenty to spare.  That would have been Frank Beamer's third season at the helm.  Anyhow, your point is well taken as I'm sure that I-81 is brutal from I-64 at Staunton southward on game days when Miami, Clemson or Notre Dame are playing in Blacksburg.

Dirt Roads

Cross-posted from the West Virginia Turnpike thread:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=9028.msg2761791#msg2761791

Quote from: SP Cook on August 11, 2022, 12:11:36 PM
With a few exceptions, after the Huntington-Charleston 64 and Charleston-Parkersburg 77, the state built all of its interstates and corridors in pretty much the reverse order of importance. 

Legend has it that WVDOH was pushing hard to build out I-79 between Charleston and Morgantown to bolster Saturday game day traffic heading to the old Mountaineer Field.  It was once a brutal trip that almost took 6 hours to get on campus at WVU, whereas now you can make the trip in about 2-1/2 hours if you avoid the crush (and the new Mountaineer Field is further off of I-79 than the Downtown campus).  Also (as I've mentioned too many times), driving on sections of I-79 that was still under construction was encouraged on game days from 1973 to 1975 (which was sometimes dangerous to hop off of the new 6-inch concrete onto the skidpan.

1995hoo

I remember my drive down to Charlotte in 2003 to see UVA play West Virginia at the Carolina Panthers' football stadium. I was bored with the I-95 to I-85 route and, without thinking about who the opponent was, I decided to take I-81 to I-77 because I had never taken I-77 before. Big mistake. I wasn't thinking about the fact that there is basically one realistic route from West Virginia to Charlotte and that I was going to be driving on that route. There had been a huge accident on I-77 somewhere around Hillsville and seemingly the entire population of West Virginia was on I-77 headed to Charlotte (the game was a sellout). For whatever reason, West Virginia fans seem to think throwing cans and stuff out the window at opposing fans' cars is acceptable, and it seems to annoy them even more if you ignore them. (Didn't see many of them around after the game. They all left early because their team lost 48—22.)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Ted$8roadFan

IDK about I-10 on FSU game days, tho I can imagine some of the interchanges being jammed. I do remember how quiet it was and how easy it was to shop and do errands around town during the game.

I-55

Getting to Ross Ade stadium (Purdue) requires navigating several local roads form the interstate, and there are only 4 bridges you can cross to get to the stadium from I-65. 2 of those bridges are in downtown Lafayette, and the southernmost bridge is out of the way even for traffic from Indy. So basically it's a mad dash to cross on the Sagamore Pkwy bridge, which leads you to a traffic light wioth 2 left turn lanes to Schuyler to get on the interstate. I've never seen how bad this stretch gets on gamedays, but I know that on Fridays before school breaks it can back up well beyond the bridge from the signal. So for some of the fictional talk of a northern bypass extension I'd be all for it.
Let's Go Purdue Basketball Whoosh

Scott5114

Game day traffic in Norman is so bad that I plan things around not even leaving the house on Saturdays in the fall.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

jp the roadgeek

Game day traffic for Rentschler Field in East Hartford, which can be accessed by I-84 Exit 58, I-384 Exit 1, CT 15 Exit 91, or CT 2 Exit 5A; is usually heavy at 2 intervals: 3 hours before kickoff when the lots open, and right after kickoff when the lots close and 90% of the crowd leaves because they just came to tailgate.  Postgame traffic is nonexistent because 80% of the remaining crowd is gone by the 3rd quarter.
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Dirt Roads

Got two big hits here today.  Perhaps you'all won't mind if I ask a few questions about where the bulk of the game day traffic is coming from.  Just looking at the main traffic patterns from parts unknown, rather than the specific collectors leading to the stadium.  I've been developing a model that distributes the D1 schools alumni base across the neighboring metropolitan areas, and this topic seemed to fit along with the networking component of the model.  Just wanting to check for anything unusual that the model can't predict.

Purdue (West Lafayette)

You've got I-65 from Chicago and Indianapolis, plus US-52 in the zig-zag from Kankakee IL.  There's not really a diagonal from I-74 at Danville IL, so perhaps IN-25 and US-231 pick up some of the traffic from the southwest.   Also two routes from the east:  IN-25 from Logansport and Fort Wayne, and IN-26 from Kokomo and Fairmount.  Just guessing, I would presume that more than 75% of traffic comes in on I-65.  Do you think that the majority of traffic comes from I-65 north of West Lafayette or I-65 from the south?

Oklahoma (Norman)

This looks much easier to understand.  You've got the bulk of the traffic coming down on I-35 from Oklahoma City.  Looks like that would also pick up the bulk of the traffic from Tulsa, as well as traffic along I-40 from the western part of the state.  You've also got I-44 coming up from Lawton and Wichita Falls TX.  Do you see much traffic coming up on I-35 from Dallas/Fort Worth and points closer?

ran4sh

For University of Georgia it's the northern suburbs of metro Atlanta. And specifically the northern suburbs. The evidence is that the route I-85 -> US 129 gets congested more than I-20 -> SR 138 -> US 78 does. If there were significant traffic from Atlanta proper or from the southern suburbs then the latter route would see congestion more often. (Obviously the main route is I-85 -> SR 316.)

The other routes leading to Athens don't get much congestion associated with football games. US 441/129 coming from south of Athens would be the route from Macon, some Savannah traffic, and most traffic from south of Macon or Savannah. This is enough traffic that US 441/129 between Athens and I-20 probably should be widened to four lane, but there are no plans to do so (other than the general GRIP corridor plan).
Control cities CAN be off the route! Control cities make NO sense if signs end before the city is reached!

Travel Mapping - Most Traveled: I-40, 20, 10, 5, 95 - Longest Clinched: I-20, 85, 24, 16, NJ Tpk mainline
Champions - UGA FB '21 '22 - Atlanta Braves '95 '21 - Atlanta MLS '18

Scott5114

Quote from: Dirt Roads on August 16, 2022, 10:28:42 PM
Oklahoma (Norman)

This looks much easier to understand.  You've got the bulk of the traffic coming down on I-35 from Oklahoma City.  Looks like that would also pick up the bulk of the traffic from Tulsa, as well as traffic along I-40 from the western part of the state.  You've also got I-44 coming up from Lawton and Wichita Falls TX.  Do you see much traffic coming up on I-35 from Dallas/Fort Worth and points closer?

It really depends on the game, but most of the time I-35 south of the OKC area is unaffected. The only real impact to I-35 south is the weekend of the OU/Texas game in Dallas, since so many people from the OKC area travel down there for the game.

The worst traffic is on the roads between campus and I-35, especially Lindsey Street and SH-9. If you need to use either of those for something not game-related, you're just screwed. Actually, even needing something on a cross street to one of those is a problem, since the city screws with the light timing to heavily favor the east-west streets. And of course there's lots of people going to various restaurants around town during the game, so that adds some secondary congestion (and exorbitant wait times).

I'm not really sure whether the Kickapoo Turnpike extension will make game day traffic better or worse. It should relieve some of the stress on I-35...but far worsen it on SH-9, since that will be the easiest way to get from the turnpike to the stadium.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

KCRoadFan

US 82 connects Tuscaloosa with Starkville - I bet it gets rather busy whenever Bama plays at Mississippi State.

Or, for that matter, on any given Saturday when both teams happen to be playing a home game.

Roadgeekteen

UMass football has no traffic because nobody cares about UMass football
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5



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