College football traffic

golden eagle · September 12, 2009, 05:43:19 PM

Now that college football is back, one thing that can be as aggravating as the way your team played is traffic, especially when the big games come to town. I can imagine the traffic in Columbus for tonight's Ohio State-USC, or Gainesville for next week's Florida-Tennessee game. Are there any places where traffic is worse than others. I would think that in place like Columbus or Atlanta (Georgia Tech), mass transit would help in clamping down on traffic that would otherwise plague smaller places like Stillwater or Ann Arbor.

corco · September 12, 2009, 05:56:51 PM

When the University of Texas comes to Laramie, Wyoming as they have today, traffic gets insanely bad- a giant amount of Texas fanbase floods into Laramie and the town basically doubles in size. It's pretty rough right now

froggie · September 12, 2009, 07:59:10 PM

Don't have that problem here, since most gameday traffic (even for the Nats' and 'Skins) gets melded within the regular DC traffic.

But I know of gameday traffic issues in Oxford (Ole Miss), Starkville (MS State), and Tuscaloosa ("Roll Tide").

brad2971 · September 12, 2009, 08:02:31 PM

It's going to be even worse for Laramie two years from now when Huskers fans buy up 75% of the available seats @War Memorial Stadium. And those folks will drive there straight from the western parts of Nebraska that never seem to be able to get a ticket to Memorial Stadium for a Husker home game.

Doesn't say too many good things about the Poke fanbase, does it

Speaking of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, the trip back up I-80 to Omaha can get rather hairy. And the lack of a WB 80-SB 180 flyover and a high speed NB 180-EB 80 ramp doesn't help matters.

SP Cook · September 13, 2009, 09:53:15 AM

College football, and NASCAR, pose unique traffic issues. In many instances, a very large amount of vehicles into very small towns which lack the transportation infastructure, and there is no way to justify any construction to remedy it, as is would be needed only a few hours in an entire year. As contrasted with most other sports, which are played in venues that are in cities or suburbs and which are used much more frequently.

I have noticed this at several colleges, including both in my state. The interstate signage for "stadium" is simply wrong. In both cases it takes the unfamiliar on a long route around, while the regulars use the direct route. Thus spliting traffic into multiple routes. Deceaving, but smart, on the part of the DOT.

algorerhythms · September 13, 2009, 10:07:44 AM

It's one of the worst parts about living in Norman in the fall. Saturday is the only day of the week when I have time to go to the supermarket, but it's a pain to get there or back because of the traffic.

PAHighways · September 13, 2009, 01:43:43 PM

Penn State traffic was always bad going up old 220, but it is probably much improved now that there is an Interstate all the way to Beaver Stadium.

Chris · September 13, 2009, 01:51:34 PM

My dad and bro's got stuck in traffic at a Coldplay concert. It took them 2.5 hours to cover 6 miles.

Dutch engineering

njroadhorse · September 13, 2009, 02:45:08 PM

Here in New Jersey, Piscataway's roads are abosolutely shut down when Rutgers is playing with their recent resurgence in popularity.

FLRoads · September 13, 2009, 04:09:10 PM

When I lived in Gainesville, most of the football traffic defaulted from Interstate 75 onto Florida 24 (Archer Road) in the southwest quadrant of the city and onto Florida 26 (Newberry Road) in the northwest part. The other major arterial used for football traffic is Florida 121 (SW 34th Street), but its traffic delay only occurred between Florida 24 and 26. Out of all the major routes in and around Gainesville, those three were the most affected by traffic since most who attended the games came from points south like Orlando and Tampa, while some ventured in from southern Georgia.

Mr. Matté · September 13, 2009, 05:50:42 PM

Quote from: njroadhorse on September 13, 2009, 02:45:08 PM
Here in New Jersey, Piscataway's roads are abosolutely shut down when Rutgers is playing with their recent resurgence in popularity.

I can attest to that. What should normally be a 2.9 mile, 9-minute trip (not counting breaks) between the ARC and the Quads on the weekend bus turned into a 2.7 mile, 9-minute trip. Wait, what? Oh yeah, we had to skip the Busch Student Center and take a long detour around Livingston since the road by Beck Hall was blocked off. I'm surprised they don't at least the regular buses cut through on the normal roads.

Scott5114 · September 13, 2009, 08:28:01 PM

Quote from: algorerhythms on September 13, 2009, 10:07:44 AM
It's one of the worst parts about living in Norman in the fall. Saturday is the only day of the week when I have time to go to the supermarket, but it's a pain to get there or back because of the traffic.

Agreed. Fortunately my present situation makes dealing with it more simple, since I live up by Robinson and thus when it passes me, it's all on I-35, which is easy enough to avoid. Should I have to go south for work, I can avoid it by taking 24th Avenue West and only really have to worry about a longer wait at Lindsey St. Of course, I work nights, so when I have to go to work on a game day, the traffic will all be going north and as long as the SH-9 West ramp isn't backed up too badly, I'm good.

Tom · September 28, 2009, 04:59:11 PM

I know traffic is worse going in and out of Spartan Stadium (E. Lansing, MI) when U of M (Ann Arbor, MI) comes to town, as they will be this Saturday (Oct. 3).

algorerhythms · September 28, 2009, 10:52:35 PM

Quote from: Scott5114Agreed. Fortunately my present situation makes dealing with it more simple, since I live up by Robinson and thus when it passes me, it's all on I-35, which is easy enough to avoid. Should I have to go south for work, I can avoid it by taking 24th Avenue West and only really have to worry about a longer wait at Lindsey St. Of course, I work nights, so when I have to go to work on a game day, the traffic will all be going north and as long as the SH-9 West ramp isn't backed up too badly, I'm good.

Not so lucky here. I happen to live near where all the traffic is converging, so I can't really avoid the traffic if I try to go anywhere during the day.

Scott5114 · September 30, 2009, 06:09:10 PM

Quote from: algorerhythms on September 28, 2009, 10:52:35 PM
Not so lucky here. I happen to live near where all the traffic is converging, so I can't really avoid the traffic if I try to go anywhere during the day.

Oh, that sucks. Is there at least a grocery store within walking distance? I'm fortunate enough to have a Braum's with grocery department right up the street so if for whatever reason my street were blocked by traffic I could still at least get the most essential groceries.

algorerhythms · September 30, 2009, 09:24:18 PM

Quote from: Scott5114Oh, that sucks. Is there at least a grocery store within walking distance? I'm fortunate enough to have a Braum's with grocery department right up the street so if for whatever reason my street were blocked by traffic I could still at least get the most essential groceries.

Closest thing to a grocery store within walking distance is a 7-11. The closest actual grocery store is pretty far away.

BigMattFromTexas · September 30, 2009, 09:33:19 PM

Quote from: corco on September 12, 2009, 05:56:51 PM
When the University of Texas comes to Laramie, Wyoming as they have today, traffic gets insanely bad- a giant amount of Texas fanbase floods into Laramie and the town basically doubles in size. It's pretty rough right now

When UT and OU go to Dallas along with the state fair crowd, I couldn't imagine that traffic

Oh and UT has to CRUSH OU last year wasn't bad enough!
BigMatt

Scott5114 · October 01, 2009, 03:59:31 AM

Quote from: BigMatt on September 30, 2009, 09:33:19 PM
Quote from: corco on September 12, 2009, 05:56:51 PM
When the University of Texas comes to Laramie, Wyoming as they have today, traffic gets insanely bad- a giant amount of Texas fanbase floods into Laramie and the town basically doubles in size. It's pretty rough right now
When UT and OU go to Dallas along with the state fair crowd, I couldn't imagine that traffic Oh and UT has to CRUSH OU last year wasn't bad enough!
BigMatt

Oh, it's horrible. The southern 120 miles or so of I-35 in Oklahoma are pretty clogged. It's such a big strain on the road ODOT will specifically plan road work around it, and will even temporarily stop work on a project if possible if they feel it will be a bottleneck. Roadgeeks aren't fazed though–they know about US-77!

Although that's a nice weekend because Norman is generally pretty vacant!

golden eagle · October 01, 2009, 09:28:42 PM

Quote from: BigMatt on September 30, 2009, 09:33:19 PM
Quote from: corco on September 12, 2009, 05:56:51 PM
When the University of Texas comes to Laramie, Wyoming as they have today, traffic gets insanely bad- a giant amount of Texas fanbase floods into Laramie and the town basically doubles in size. It's pretty rough right now
When UT and OU go to Dallas along with the state fair crowd, I couldn't imagine that traffic Oh and UT has to CRUSH OU last year wasn't bad enough!
BigMatt

Good thing the Cowboys are playing in Denver this weekend or it could really be bad (though traffic for that game would be the next day and farther out). And before I forget..Hook 'Em Horns!!

mgk920 · October 01, 2009, 10:37:48 PM

I can't even begin to imagine what US 151 was like between Madison, WI and I-380 before and after Iowa-Wisconsin football games - before it was upgraded to four lanes. Even now, delays in Iowa must still be legendary both at those dippy traffic signals in Dubuque and at those even dippier four-way STOPs in the Cedar Rapids area.

ANYWAYS, at the professional level, US 41 southwest of Green Bay, WI is always heavy and slow, including stop-and-go at the several merges in Ashwaubenon (southwest suburban Green Bay), after Packer games. It's part of the entire gameday experience there.

Mike

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College football traffic