Great News about Parking and Traffic Changes for this Season

[heb65]

Good news for changes Penn State made to help correct the traffic problems and delays caused by the traffic changes they made for the 2019 football season. This year they are taking some of the traffic off east and west bound Park Avenue and putting it on Fox Hollow Road and Porter Road. This should be a big help reducing the heavy traffic on Park Avenue.
My friends who park in Lot 17, a 'West' Zone Lot, have been sent 'North' Zone Parking Passes so they can travel to and from Lot 17 by way of Fox Hollow Road. They live in Bellefonte and Lancaster. That will be a BIG help getting out of Lot 17 after the Auburn Game.
My other friends park in 'East' Zone lot 31 and they were also sent different Zone passes this year. They were sent 'South' Zone Passes so they can travel to and from Lot 31 by way of Porter Road. They live in Bedford and Harrisburg areas.

Finally Penn State realized they had a problem with the 2019 'Plan' and have changed it now, Great News.

 

[Cletus11]

I don't give kudos or credit for somebody solving a problem that they created in the first place due to being stupid.

 

[RGWhirly]

Was broke before new plan, just broke in different ways now.

 

[heb65]

I heard that Penn State Athletic Dept had a briefing after the Sept 7 Press Conference to discuss the Parking and Traffic Details for this season to the 'Press'. Did it happen?

 

[Cletus11]

As I wrote on 247, part of the issues is some really bad traffic cops.

On Saturday at about 1:30PM, I was walking up University street towards the stadium. The cross street about half way up to the stadium just short of Holuba Hall on the South side is Hastings. Basically no cars are allowed past Hastings and everybody has to turn right, only the buses can get past. So walking up and the cop is stopping all pedestrian traffic. He is directing people coming up University going north to exit right on Hastings. All the pedestrians on the West side of University street (which is 95% of them as that is the campus side) are just standing there with the traffic cop on that side not letting us go even though that cop is not letting the cars on Hastings on that side of the street get on University going south. So basically instead of having both sides of traffic move or one side traffic and the other side pedestrian, only one side is moving. Then finally the cop on our side figures it out and starts letting cars go after about 2 minutes of nothing as stated above. Then a car on the other side stops and starts letting people out (maybe an Uber or something) and the cop runs down Hastings yelling at them (all the while the traffic is stopped on University as he is running down Hastings about 25 yards to yell at the stopped car). So he gets back and the entire intersection has NOBODY moving, no cars, no pedestrians, no nothing for about 30 seconds. By this time, I have been standing there with probably a hundred people at the intersection for about 5 total minutes. So finally, the lead cop looks over and see that the other cop is also just standing there doing nothing and blows his whistle at the other cop to let the pedestrians finally go. I think you could have randomly selected some reasonably intelligent high school kids and given them about 5 minutes of training on how to be a traffic cop and done a better job.

 

[pulpdog]

As I wrote on 247, part of the issues is some really bad traffic cops.

On Saturday at about 1:30PM, I was walking up University street towards the stadium. The cross street about half way up to the stadium just short of Holuba Hall on the South side is Hastings. Basically no cars are allowed past Hastings and everybody has to turn right, only the buses can get past. So walking up and the cop is stopping all pedestrian traffic. He is directing people coming up University going north to exit right on Hastings. All the pedestrians on the West side of University street (which is 95% of them as that is the campus side) are just standing there with the traffic cop on that side not letting us go even though that cop is not letting the cars on Hastings on that side of the street get on University going south. So basically instead of having both sides of traffic move or one side traffic and the other side pedestrian, only one side is moving. Then finally the cop on our side figures it out and starts letting cars go after about 2 minutes of nothing as stated above. Then a car on the other side stops and starts letting people out (maybe an Uber or something) and the cop runs down Hastings yelling at them (all the while the traffic is stopped on University as he is running down Hastings about 25 yards to yell at the stopped car). So he gets back and the entire intersection has NOBODY moving, no cars, no pedestrians, no nothing for about 30 seconds. By this time, I have been standing there with probably a hundred people at the intersection for about 5 total minutes. So finally, the lead cop looks over and see that the other cop is also just standing there doing nothing and blows his whistle at the other cop to let the pedestrians finally go. I think you could have randomly selected some reasonably intelligent high school kids and given them about 5 minutes of training on how to be a traffic cop and done a better job.

So I was driving the car immediately behind the Uber that let his riders out along University. What a frustrating situation! The cop that yelled at the Uber waved me around. The next cop told me to continue straight up University (this was immediately before the light at Hastings). Police officer 3/4 through the intersection stops me and scolds to me stop at the red signal. I stopped. The light turns green - he then directs cars to turn left from Hastings South on University. I'm 1/4way through the intersection. Finally another cop tells me to go the next time the light turned red.
I have a pass for Lot 41, south of the stadium. We travel up University and take a right on Dauer. They don't stop cars from exiting 26 onto University and then there are cars that turn right on University without passes that need to be directed elsewhere. This causes a jam. Just an absolute mess. I'm glad someone else got to experience it with me!

 

[PearlSUJam]

As I wrote on 247, part of the issues is some really bad traffic cops.

On Saturday at about 1:30PM, I was walking up University street towards the stadium. The cross street about half way up to the stadium just short of Holuba Hall on the South side is Hastings. Basically no cars are allowed past Hastings and everybody has to turn right, only the buses can get past. So walking up and the cop is stopping all pedestrian traffic. He is directing people coming up University going north to exit right on Hastings. All the pedestrians on the West side of University street (which is 95% of them as that is the campus side) are just standing there with the traffic cop on that side not letting us go even though that cop is not letting the cars on Hastings on that side of the street get on University going south. So basically instead of having both sides of traffic move or one side traffic and the other side pedestrian, only one side is moving. Then finally the cop on our side figures it out and starts letting cars go after about 2 minutes of nothing as stated above. Then a car on the other side stops and starts letting people out (maybe an Uber or something) and the cop runs down Hastings yelling at them (all the while the traffic is stopped on University as he is running down Hastings about 25 yards to yell at the stopped car). So he gets back and the entire intersection has NOBODY moving, no cars, no pedestrians, no nothing for about 30 seconds. By this time, I have been standing there with probably a hundred people at the intersection for about 5 total minutes. So finally, the lead cop looks over and see that the other cop is also just standing there doing nothing and blows his whistle at the other cop to let the pedestrians finally go. I think you could have randomly selected some reasonably intelligent high school kids and given them about 5 minutes of training on how to be a traffic cop and done a better job.

I noticed all of the police I saw were PSP directing traffic and security. And they were everywhere. Was this a 9/11 thing or can I expect my nation high PA fuel tax to pay for this for the overtime they get?

 

[BudatPSU]

Routes and parking could be vastly improved if somebody would do a deep dive into the old plans from the 1990’s and early 2000’s and discard all the “improvements” the highly paid consultants made since then.

 

[heb65]

A local Writer said Penn State would not admit they made significant changes to the Traffic and Parking Zone passes to allow different Zones to have access to Lots 17, 18, and 31 to help lessen the traffic on Park Ave. Was this to:
1. Not admit their 2019 'Traffic' Plan was flawed?
2. Not be blamed for the mess leaving the Stadium this Sat night?

Or Both, you decide.

 

[RGWhirly]

Part of the issues in 2019 was people still doing what they wanted. The you can’t tell me what to do crowd. I knew one of the police that used to be in the area they said even 4 games in they still had to redirect/turnaround hundreds of vehicles trying to circumvent directions within the 4 hour window. And you know everyone of those clowns tried to argue their point, f ing everyone behind them.

 

[rudedude]

The issue is still getting out of the lots. Lot 34 was backed up down the hill to Orchard when.we got to the car Saturday. The gate at the next entrance near the stadium was opened so we did a bob and weave job thru the grass and past the line of cars, turned by the fence & made a right towards
Medlar Field and went down Porter to College Ave and out we went. There is always a bottleneck in that lot going down the hill because everyone merged into one lane to get out plus the lower lots on Orchard empty out to the same egress. The lot above us, 31, is usually never full, so going out the way we did is ideal. You get screwed when they keep the fence closed, however.

 

[sklnwmax]

I have a parking spot on lot 17. Two years ago, they offered you a choice on how to enter, either fox hollow or park. This is not new to lot 17 for this year.

 

[Cletus11]

The issue is still getting out of the lots. Lot 34 was backed up down the hill to Orchard when.we got to the car Saturday. The gate at the next entrance near the stadium was opened so we did a bob and weave job thru the grass and past the line of cars, turned by the fence & made a right towards
Medlar Field and went down Porter to College Ave and out we went. There is always a bottleneck in that lot going down the hill because everyone merged into one lane to get out plus the lower lots on Orchard empty out to the same egress. The lot above us, 31, is usually never full, so going out the way we did is ideal. You get screwed when they keep the fence closed, however.

what they need is basically traffic cops at the exit of the major lots and at the light at Park/Atherton and Park/Porter-Fox hollow and Park/Orchard. Those are the major pinch points and they need to get traffic flowing better.

 

[cvilleelkscoach]

So I was driving the car immediately behind the Uber that let his riders out along University. What a frustrating situation! The cop that yelled at the Uber waved me around. The next cop told me to continue straight up University (this was immediately before the light at Hastings). Police officer 3/4 through the intersection stops me and scolds to me stop at the red signal. I stopped. The light turns green - he then directs cars to turn left from Hastings South on University. I'm 1/4way through the intersection. Finally another cop tells me to go the next time the light turned red.
I have a pass for Lot 41, south of the stadium. We travel up University and take a right on Dauer. They don't stop cars from exiting 26 onto University and then there are cars that turn right on University without passes that need to be directed elsewhere. This causes a jam. Just an absolute mess. I'm glad someone else got to experience it with me!

What time of day was this. We enter lot 41 via University Drive and did so on Saturday about 10:15am. We had no issues whatsoever.

 

[heb65]

I have a parking spot on lot 17. Two years ago, they offered you a choice on how to enter, either fox hollow or park. This is not new to lot 17 for this year.

Very Important: What is new this year, they are doing it without asking. They are doing it for several Lots depending on the Lot and if it can be accessed from either Porter Road or Fox Hollow Road. 'East' Lot 31 is a prime example, they either already sent you a South 'S' Pass for Lot 31 so you can come in or out by way of Porter Road depending were you live or you can ask. That is how they already mailed them, depending on Zip Code.
The same applies to other Lots in the West Zone, like Lots 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18. The last season, you had to ask to get a pass to come in on Fox Hollow Road, now they already sent the 'N' Zone pass to you if you lived in the north and east of the Stadium, example Bellefonte and others Zip codes.
They are trying to balance the Traffic and take the pressure off east and west bound Park Avenue and put more traffic on Fox Hollow Road and Porter Road, and that is Great News for most of us.

 

[pulpdog]

What time of day was this. We enter lot 41 via University Drive and did so on Saturday about 10:15am. We had no issues whatsoever.

Cletus mentioned about 130, although I think it may have been slightly earlier. I can't remember exactly but it was definitely after 1230.

 

[Cletus11]

Cletus mentioned about 130, although I think it may have been slightly earlier. I can't remember exactly but it was definitely after 1230.

there is never much an issue at 10:30AM for a 3:30 game. I was walking up University at about 1:30PM.

 

[sklnwmax]

Thanks for the clarification! I guess that those of us in lot 17 who selected fox hollow two years ago are grandfathered in to that approach independent of zip code. I also have a spot in lot 31 where the approach via park did not change but my friends spot in 31 did change via porter. We both have the same zip code but her spot is slightly south of mine in lot 31 so perhaps they also considered spot locations within the lot.

 

[NittPicker]

Part of the issues in 2019 was people still doing what they wanted. The you can’t tell me what to do crowd. I knew one of the police that used to be in the area they said even 4 games in they still had to redirect/turnaround hundreds of vehicles trying to circumvent directions within the 4 hour window. And you know everyone of those clowns tried to argue their point, f ing everyone behind them.

Don't get me started on those people. My route is now through Toftrees then up Fox Hollow Rd. Every week there is a substantial number of people who drive up to Fox Hollow and expect to turn right without a parking pass. Then they apparently try to talk the cops into letting them go anyway. 100% of the time they're made to turn around. Then the next car pulls up and it's the same thing all over again. I get excited when three or more cars get waved through without stopping.

 

[91Joe95]

Sandy needs to think out of the box to solve this problem. She should consider a new stadium in a different location.

 

[RGWhirly]

Sandy needs to think out of the box to solve this problem. She should consider a new stadium in a different location.

How about we play all our games in Lucas Oil Stadium. Team well prepared for B1G Champ game. 😉

 

[heb65]

Thanks for the clarification! I guess that those of us in lot 17 who selected fox hollow two years ago are grandfathered in to that approach independent of zip code. I also have a spot in lot 31 where the approach via park did not change but my friends spot in 31 did change via porter. We both have the same zip code but her spot is slightly south of mine in lot 31 so perhaps they also considered spot locations within the lot.

My friends had that same problem in Lot 31 because Penn State did not tell the fans that they changed how they reassigned the Parking Zone Passes. What my friends did was contact Penn State to reissue the Parking Passes. They said Penn State gave them new Zone Passes and voided out the original passes. Also ask for it next year that you want the different pass. They are trying hard to equalize the traffic by taking traffic off the overloaded Park Avenue.

 

[91Joe95]

How about we play all our games in Lucas Oil Stadium. Team well prepared for B1G Champ game. 😉

Michigan already booked it. Hope springs eternal in Harbaugh land.

 

[RGWhirly]

Michigan already booked it. Hope springs eternal in Harbaugh land.

The only way Jim Harbaugh is getting inside Lucas Oil for B1G Champ game is his name up on Colts’ Ring of Honor. 😉

 

[NittanyLionFan]

Before all of these zones, we used to use Puddintown to Orchard to get to Lot 32 (old Orange); that avoided the insanity getting on Park from 322 and usually saved at least 30 minutes. With zone control, I would imagine that's no longer an option.

After having been in the Orange lot for well over a decade (maybe almost two!), we moved our parking from Lot 32 to Lot 13 (old Brown) for 2020 (obviously started this season) due to 1) congestion along Park from the east and 2) that lot is a mess when it rains and heaven forbid if they park you down hill when it is wet outside (becomes a mud pit that can be hard to escape). Dunno what our luck will be coming from the west zone, but hopefully these changes will help.