Sept. 15, 2008

Roads and streets around the Beaver Stadium have modified traffic patterns on gameday that facilitate vehicles getting to parking lots while at the same time affording fans safe pedestrian routes to the gates.

Local police cooperate with PennDot to set up one way inbound and outbound traffic flows. The implementation of these patterns is dependent on game time, but are generally in effect five hours before kickoff. The routes affected are:

Curtin Road in front of the stadium: This one block portion between Porter Road and University Drive is closed at the same time the lots open to create a pedestrian mall for the Street Fair.

Curtin Road from Bigler Road to University Drive closes approximately four hours before game time to become a pedestrian corridor and the ADA Tram route.

Bigler Road north of Curtin Road is closed to all northbound traffic except for vehicles who want to park in the East Deck. Vehicles who want to access Park Avenue must do so from Shortlidge Road.

Porter Road from College Avenue to the Red, Blue, Purple, and Yellow lots becomes one way when the lots open. Porter Road is closed to through traffic, with no northbound vehicles permitted beyond the Red Lot entrance. There is a limited number of Yellow spaces available for game day purchase. Once they are filled, only pre-paid Yellow permit holders displaying their permit will be permitted on Porter Road.

Porter Road from Park Avenue to the Visitor's Center is closed to all but permitted vehicles.

Park Avenue westbound from Exit 73 of US322/220 becomes one way inbound approximately five hours before game time, or when heavy traffic volume dictates.

Park Avenue eastbound from Atherton Street becomes one way inbound approximately five hours before game time, or when heavy traffic volume dictates.

University Drive is closed to through traffic between Park Avenue and Hastings Road when the one-way pattern on Park Avenue goes into effect, usually five hours before game time.

Puddintown Road is a new alternate route this year. Accessed from East College Avenue near the Hilton Gardens Hotel, this road allows vehicles to enter the Yellow lots from Orchard Road on the east side of the stadium.

Shuttle Buses and Taxis for the game use the following routes:
• University Drive to the Bryce Jordan Center
• Fox Hollow Road to the Ag Arena

Outbound Patterns make Porter Road and Park Avenue one way away from the stadium at or near the end of the game depending on traffic volume.

As soon as traffic on Porter Road diminishes, usually about one hour after the game, it is opened from Park Avenue one way to College Avenue to create an alternate route to US322/220 for vehicles from Park Avenue.

University Drive is opened for southbound traffic from Park Avenue about ninety minutes after the game once pedestrian traffic has diminished and the ADA Tram and Shuttle Buses have completed operations.

Local Traffic is advised to avoid the football traffic patterns. While there are detours and escape routes available for those who find themselves on these streets, the delays caused by being in football traffic can be minimized by using circuitous routes not used by football fans.

For example, to get to the Mount Nittany Medical Center the best routes are to use either the Bypass to the hospital exit, or Puddintown Road to Orchard Road, or Fox Hollow Road to Orchard Road.

Other routes that avoid downtown and stadium traffic are South Atherton Street, University Drive Extension, Blue Course Drive, Science Park Road, and Toftrees Avenue, to name a few of the popular ones.