It’s safe to say the hours leading up to Saturday’s Penn State-Pitt kickoff were not the game day experience Penn State wanted.
Long before a lightning delay pushed back the start time 35 minutes to 12:40 p.m., many fans were wondering if they’d make it to Beaver Stadium before the 100th meeting between the Nittany Lions and Panthers got underway.
Penn State’s new traffic and parking system, an early kickoff and a big crowd with all advance parking already sold out made for the perfect storm to create game day gridlock. While complaints rolled in before and after Penn State’s first two games of the season, fans were far more vocal about the traffic issues before game 3.
Lots opened at 6:30 a.m., and some tailgaters were already lining up to get in during the pre-dawn hours. But later in the morning, particularly after one-way traffic patterns went into effect at 8:30 a.m. but even before, motorists encountered miles-long backups on seemingly every route to the stadium.
Traffic going to Penn State this morning. @LancasterSports pic.twitter.com/fpfaRpBjTW
— Mark Palczewski (@Mark22Photos) September 14, 2019
Traffic. Got to Atherton 3 hours before the game and it’s been at a standstill for over an hour. New traffic patterns a terrible.
— Cotton Hill (@Cotton__Hill) September 14, 2019
Barely moved in 40 mins. At this rate it will be striped out about 50k strong pic.twitter.com/JChhhRLSHY
— Cotton Hill (@Cotton__Hill) September 14, 2019
@GoPSUsports Game Day traffic on Atherton Took 40 mins just to get from Walmart to the Fridays…and still need to get to Lot N17. Can we all talk about this?
— Elizabeth Daubert (@ElizabethDaub30) September 14, 2019
Traffic was just as bad coming from the south.
A view south from Beaver Ave. pic.twitter.com/CRLOYgzkKy
— Alpha Fire Company (@AlphaFireCo) September 14, 2019
Beaver Ave coming into town from west just as bad. pic.twitter.com/4EjisU6bH5
— Alpha Fire Company (@AlphaFireCo) September 14, 2019
It wasn’t any better closer to the stadium
@SandyB_PSUAD @psufootball @PSUtraffic New traffic parking system is a fail!! Literally no one is moving on Park Ave for a solid 30 mins. It’s a parking lot out here!!
— Leslie Zarrelli (@LeslieZarrelli) September 14, 2019
Penn State Athletics replied that ‘The staff who have been working with our local and state police as well as SP+ are encouraged by all the positives this plan brings to traffic flow and fan safety.’
The staff who have been working with our local and state police as well as SP+ are encouraged by all the positives this plan brings to traffic flow and fan safety. If you have specific questions, 1-800-NITTANY is fully staffed with folks who can help. #RunYourRoute
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) September 14, 2019
Longtime Penn State football beat writer Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror called it ‘the worst pre-game traffic,’ he has seen in more than 40 years of covering the team.
I have covered @PennStateFball for 40-plus years and this is by far the worst pre-game traffic — thanks to the university’s new plan — I have ever been subjected to. Left Altoona at 8:25 and have now been logjammed on Atherton for 55 minutes. Unrivaled, all right.
— Neil Rudel (@NeilRudel) September 14, 2019
I’ll go to my grave, hopefully not soon, wondering why #PSU, once with best traffic control in the Big Ten, could implement a new plan that takes people off 322 E in favor of Atherton Street business district that includes half-dozen lights that should be all green but aren’t.
— Neil Rudel (@NeilRudel) September 14, 2019
Others expressed frustration and said traffic was unlike anything they’ve encountered in the past.
@pennstate @psufootball @OnwardState @GoPSUsports this traffic is absurd. Am I supposed to come 6 hours early?
Traffic was a non-issue the past two years I’ve had season tickets and now with the new parking regulations we’ve been sitting on atherton for 1 hour.
— dammit ally (@likeaBOSS_er) September 14, 2019
What Penn State’s athletics administration has done to parking and inbound traffic this year is an abomination. Media needs to keep crushing them on this. Inexcusable.
— Frank Cianfrani (@VometCometCapt) September 14, 2019
