What to Know About Traffic, Parking and CATA Changes for Penn State’s Homecoming Parade

Penn State’s annual Homecoming Parade will bring road closures, parking restrictions and changes to CATA bus services across University Park and downtown State College on Friday, Sept. 25..

The parade begins at 6 p.m. and will travel through campus before heading onto College Avenue, with traffic restrictions beginning as early as 4:30 p.m. 

Penn State Transportation Services is warning drivers, students and visitors to expect delays and plan ahead.

Traffic Changes and Road Closures

The parade route will begin near the fields east of Medlar Field before traveling west on Curtin Road, south on Bigler Road and west on Pollock Road. It will continue south on Shortlidge Road, west on College Avenue and north on Burrowes Road before ending at the Curtin Road intersection.

The route will close to vehicles beginning at 5:30 p.m. and remain closed until the parade ends. Parking along the route will be restricted and vehicles parked on College Avenue must be moved before the parade begins.

Porter Road between Curtin Road and the southernmost entrance to the Jordan East lot will close at 4:30 p.m. and is expected to reopen around 7 p.m. Curtin Road between University Drive and Porter Road will also close at 4:30 p.m. 

The remaining parade route, including portions of Bigler Road, Pollock Road, Shortlidge Road, College Avenue and Burrowes Road, will close  at 5:30 p.m.

Penn State police will be stationed along the route beginning at 5 p.m. to help manage traffic, but the university said motorists should expect delays. 

Parking Changes

The Lion Shrine visitor lot will close at 3 p.m. Friday, with all vehicles required to leave by 5 p.m.

Paid visitor parking will be available at the East, Eisenhower, HUB, Nittany and West Parking decks. Rates will be $2 for the first hour and $1 for each additional hour. Vehicles remaining in the decks into Saturday will be charged football game-day rates of $40 at the East, Eisenhower, HUB and Nittany decks and $25 at the West Deck.

Several campus lots will also have earlier exit restrictions. Faculty, staff and students who do not plan to remain through the parade should move their vehicles before 5:30 p.m. from: 

• Yellow H lots at Shields and Wagner buildings, 
• Orange J at McCoy Natatorium, 
• Lot 42,
• Lot 81
• HUB Deck 
• Yellow J at Atherton Hall 
• Yellow N along College Avenue 
• Red H at Noll Lab 
• Green C at Waring Commons 
• Red K 

Vehicles leaving Old Main, Brown B, Brown E and portions of Brown A after the parade begins will be directed to use Pollock Road and Fraser Road to reach Curtin.

CATA, Campus Shuttle Changes

The parade will also affect most CATA routes from approximately 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, including the Blue Loop, White Loop and Red Link. Several stops will be temporarily unavailable during the parade. 

Those closures include stops along Curtin, Burrowes, Porter, Hastings, Bigler, Pollock and Shortlidge roads, as well as College Avenue between University Drive and Atherton Street and Pugh Street between Fairmount and College avenues.

Curtin Road stops affected include the Pattee Transit Center, Pavilion Theatre, Visual Arts Building, East Halls, McCoy Natatorium, IM Building, Shields Building, Bryce Jordan Ticket Center and Stadium West.

Penn State’s campus shuttle service will end at 5 p.m. due to the parade-related closures.

The parade also coincides with a women’s ice hockey game at Pegula Ice Arena and a men’s and women’s swimming and diving meet at McCoy Natatorium. Fans attending those events are advised to access campus from Park Avenue to Stadium West or from Porter Road via College Avenue to Jordan East.

Parking questions can be directed to Penn State Transportation Services at 814-865-1436, traffic questions to University Police and Public Safety at 814-863-1111 and CATA questions to 814-238-2282.