Michael Newton. (ISU photo)
Thousands of fans are expected to head to Ames for the first Iowa State home football game Saturday.
ISU Police Chief Michael Newton says a new pedestrian bridge on the east side of Jack Trice Stadium should help with all the extra traffic. “We’re really hopeful that people will choose to go from all of the lots on that side of University Boulevard and use that nice new bridge that will hopefully ease some of the pedestrian car traffic,” Newton says. “You know, it’s never a good mix when you have pedestrians crossing in the wrong locations with cars coming.”
Officers have had to stop cars to let pedestrians cross the street safely, and now they can just walk across the bridge.
“There’ll be some learning curve, but we do think with the signage that athletics is put up that this will definitely help our traffic patterns,” Newton says. “We’re still going to man, all of our intersections with law enforcement personnel because we do still know there will be some pedestrian traffic in those areas.”
The ISU bridge at night. (ISU photo)
There is a new RV parking lot that will feed into the bridge too. Newton says there are not a lot of changes for those who attend the game. “We remind people about the clear bag policy, we’re still under the clear bag policy. So anything you bring in should be in there. But you know, don’t bring alcohol, no weapons, any of those kinds of things. Just kind of those essentials that you need in that clear bag,” he says.
Newton reminds everyone to park legally for the game. “Lot of free parking on campus. We have a map on the athletics website. Really any lot on campus, for the most part, is free to use,” Newton says. “We do not want people parking up illegally in the neighborhoods. It does cause some issues not just for the neighbors, but for emergency vehicles getting through when they’re needed.” Newton says to give yourself extra time to get to your parking area, as there will be lots of traffic for the game.
The Cyclones face Southeast Missouri State at 1 p-m.