Homecoming Parade traffic, transit and parking impacts announced

The Nittany Lion, always a parade favorite, rode in style through the 2018 Homecoming Parade route. The annual parade is one of the highlights of Homecoming Week each year at Penn State. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Transportation Services has announced traffic, parking and transit impacts related to the 2019 Homecoming Parade, which will wind through campus and downtown State College beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.

Parade route and parking

Parade participants will organize in Lot Orange B Softball, and the fields east of Medlar Field. From there, the parade units will follow the following route:

Form on Curtin Road and travel west, crossing University Drive, where the parade will be joined by units that have formed in Orange B and on the IM fields north of the IM Building.
West on Curtin Road to Bigler Road.
South on Bigler Road to Pollock Road.
West on Pollock Road to Shortlidge Road.
South on Shortlidge Road to College Avenue.
West on College Avenue to Burrowes Road.
North on Burrowes Road to Curtin Road.
The parade will disperse at the Burrowes/Curtin intersection.

The parade route will be closed to vehicular traffic from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade. Parking along the route will be restricted. Motorists must remove parked vehicles on College Avenue prior to the start of the parade.

No-charge visitor parking for those who wish to view the parade will be available from 4 to 9 p.m. at the following locations:

Lot Red A (west of Atherton Street).
Commuter Lots (Jordan East, Stadium West).

Paid visitor parking will be available for $1 per hour ($12 daily maximum fee) at the following locations:

Nittany Parking Deck.
East Parking Deck.
HUB Deck.

Please note that most other campus parking areas are reserved 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and require a valid permit.

Normal evening/weekend regulations will be in place for faculty/staff and student permit holders.

Parade-related road closures

To accommodate the parade, the following roadways will be closed on Friday, Oct. 4 (see times for closing below):

Porter Road between Curtin Road and the southernmost entrance to the Jordan East parking area from 5 p.m. until parade units have left the area (expected to be around 6 p.m.).
Curtin Road between University Drive and Porter Road from 2 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
Curtin Road between University Drive and Bigler Road from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
Bigler Road between Curtin Road and Pollock Road from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
Pollock Road between Bigler Road and Shortlidge Road from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
Shortlidge Road between Pollock Road and College Avenue from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
College Avenue between Shortlidge Road and Burrowes Road from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
Burrowes Road between College Avenue and Curtin Road from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.

As a result of the impacts to Burrowes Road, vehicles exiting Brown A, Brown B, Brown C, Brown E, and Old Main will be directed to travel northbound on Fraser Road from Pollock Road to Curtin Road. The gates on Pollock Road near Old Main will be raised Friday evening to allow Brown B and Brown C permit holders to utilize this exit route and the bollards separating Fraser Road from Curtin Road also will be removed to allow vehicles to exit.

All vehicles attempting to exit Jordan East will be required to do so via Dauer Road to University Drive or via the southernmost exit to Porter Road near the outdoor track beginning at 5 p.m. Friday.

Penn State University Police will be directing traffic at various intersections on campus, but delays should be expected.

Penn State Army ROTC will be assisting the Homecoming Committee and University Police and Public Safety with the 2019 Homecoming Parade. ROTC will provide several vehicles for traffic barriers and cadets will assist with managing the parade route.

Parking impacts

The Park Avenue section of the Orange B (Softball) parking area will be reserved from 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, through the conclusion of the parade on Friday for parade preparations and staging. All vehicles must be removed from this lot by 6 p.m. Thursday. Parking in the other two sections of Orange B near Stone and Snyder halls will remain available until 3:30 p.m. Friday.

Due to the formation and movement of parade units, Lot Yellow H at IM Building will be closed all day Friday.

Faculty, staff and students who do not wish to remain parked until the conclusion of the parade should make plans to remove their vehicles from the following areas before 5:30 p.m. Friday:

Yellow H (Shields Building).
Yellow H (Wagner Building).
Orange J (McCoy Natatorium).
Lot 42 (north of Building 14) - vehicles must exit via Millennium Drive to Hastings Road.
Lot 81 (at Ritner/Wolf Halls and Pollock Building) - vehicles must exit to Mifflin Road then travel south to McKean Road.
HUB Parking Deck.
Yellow J (Atherton Hall).
Yellow N (College Avenue in front of Health and Human Development).
Red H (Noll Lab).
Green C (Waring Commons).
Red K (ARL) - vehicles will be able to exit west through the FedEx Office parking lot to Atherton Street.

Fraser Road will be open to Curtin Road, so permit holders parking in the following areas wishing to use their normal exit routes should plan to exit prior to 5:30 p.m.:

Old Main.
Brown B (Pond Lab).
Brown C (Osmond Lab).
Brown E (Sparks Building).
Brown A (Willard, Reber and Deike buildings) - vehicles parked in the Reber and Deike sections of Brown A must access Fraser Road by traveling north between the Willard and Steidle buildings.

If exiting these lots after the beginning of the parade, vehicles should travel on Pollock Road to Fraser Road, travel northbound on Fraser and exit on Curtin Road.

University Police will be stationed along the parade route beginning at 5 p.m. to help facilitate rush-hour traffic flow and begin closing the route.

Impacts to CATABUS and Campus Shuttle service

As a result of road closings across campus during the parade, routing changes will be made to the majority of CATABUS routes (including the Blue Loop, White Loop and the Red Link) from approximately 5:30 until 9 p.m. Friday. CATABUS service to and from the following locations will be unavailable for the duration of the parade:

East Halls, the Wagner Building, the IM Building, the Shields Building, the Centre County/Penn State Visitor Center, Hastings Road, Curtin Road (including the Pattee Transit Center), Bigler Road, Pollock Road, the White Building, College Avenue between University Drive and Atherton Street, and Burrowes Road. Additionally, there will be no access to the Stadium West and Jordan East parking areas.

The A, B, C, G, HM, HU, K, N, NE, NV, R, S, V, VN, W, WE, XB and XG patrons are encouraged to catch the bus at temporary stops on Park Avenue. The White Loop and Red Link also will service Park Avenue and transport patrons to west campus to catch outbound express buses. The NE, P, RC, VE, and WE will pick up patrons at the bus stops on White Course Drive. The RP will service Schlow Library during the parade instead of College and Allen. There will be no Blue Loop service during the parade.

Campus Shuttle service will end at 5 p.m. Friday due to parade-related road closures.