penn state football
Football fans from Altoona and points south and west heading to Beaver Stadium for today's season opener with Akron will have an easier drive than they had last fall.
Today's game marks the first regular season game that all four lanes of Interstate 99 will be open from the Pennsylvania Turnpike north to State College.
Last fall the northbound lanes were open to the Skytop area, where drivers were funneled onto two-lane Route 322 for a short distance - a 1.3 mile stretch between Skytop and the Mount Nittany Expressway. The southbound lanes of I-99 remained closed between the Mount Nittany Expressway and Port Matilda.
"Hopefully it will make travel through that corridor easier and quicker," PennDOT spokeswoman Marla Fannin said. "Last year, you could go into State College most of the way on four lanes, but the southbound lanes were not open until around Thanksgiving. Now that we have all four lanes open, that should help ease the traffic flow at the end of the game."
Geoff Rushton, Penn State spokesman, also sees that as a positive.
"This completely eliminates people going over Skytop. That area could get pretty congested," Rushton said. "This should save people a lot of time."
Once fans arrive on campus, they will find some new regulations in place for the 2009 season.
One of them is a new university policy prohibiting glass bottles from the grassy parking areas near Beaver Stadium.
"We need to keep glass out of the grassy areas. It is not an alcohol issue. ... It is difficult to clean up broken glass in the grass," Rushton said.
He noted that the fields used for game day parking and tailgating are used the rest of the week for intramurals, Blue Band practice and pasture land for animals.
"It really is a safety issue," he said.
Another change is no smoking permitted inside Beaver Stadium - a result of the Clean Indoor Act of 2008. Previously, there were smoking areas on the concourse levels.
Penn State began implementing the policy at the Blue White game in April. Violators face removal from the stadium and possible loss of ticket privileges.
Anyone wishing to smoke during the game outside of the stadium is reminded that no re-entry is allowed for any reason.
"The American Cancer Society supports Penn State University's decision to provide Nittany Lion fans with a smoke-free environment, so fans of all ages are now able to enjoy great football without being exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke," said April Sherry, cancer control director of the American Cancer Society Central Region.
For the second consecutive season, Penn State and Fullington Trailways will offer the Penn State Football Express to Beaver Stadium from Altoona and several locations in the State College area.
The service is designed to improve game day traffic and support the university's environmental goals.
"Considering the over 100,000 fans that pack into Beaver Stadium on football Saturdays, we want to provide a service that would be like a carpool to games," Penn State's Director of Transportation Services Teresa Davis said.
Reservations are required for the Altoona bus, which departs from Penn State Altoona four hours before kickoff and returns either one or three hours after the game. Round-trip cost is $18.
Football fans from Altoona and points south and west heading to Beaver Stadium for today's season opener with Akron will have an easier drive than they had last fall.
Today's game marks the first regular season game that all four lanes of Interstate 99 will be open from the Pennsylvania Turnpike north to State College.
Last fall the northbound lanes were open to the Skytop area, where drivers were funneled onto two-lane Route 322 for a short distance - a 1.3 mile stretch between Skytop and the Mount Nittany Expressway. The southbound lanes of I-99 remained closed between the Mount Nittany Expressway and Port Matilda.
"Hopefully it will make travel through that corridor easier and quicker," PennDOT spokeswoman Marla Fannin said. "Last year, you could go into State College most of the way on four lanes, but the southbound lanes were not open until around Thanksgiving. Now that we have all four lanes open, that should help ease the traffic flow at the end of the game."
Geoff Rushton, Penn State spokesman, also sees that as a positive.
"This completely eliminates people going over Skytop. That area could get pretty congested," Rushton said. "This should save people a lot of time."
Once fans arrive on campus, they will find some new regulations in place for the 2009 season.
One of them is a new university policy prohibiting glass bottles from the grassy parking areas near Beaver Stadium.
"We need to keep glass out of the grassy areas. It is not an alcohol issue. ... It is difficult to clean up broken glass in the grass," Rushton said.
He noted that the fields used for game day parking and tailgating are used the rest of the week for intramurals, Blue Band practice and pasture land for animals.
"It really is a safety issue," he said.
Another change is no smoking permitted inside Beaver Stadium - a result of the Clean Indoor Act of 2008. Previously, there were smoking areas on the concourse levels.
Penn State began implementing the policy at the Blue White game in April. Violators face removal from the stadium and possible loss of ticket privileges.
Anyone wishing to smoke during the game outside of the stadium is reminded that no re-entry is allowed for any reason.
"The American Cancer Society supports Penn State University's decision to provide Nittany Lion fans with a smoke-free environment, so fans of all ages are now able to enjoy great football without being exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke," said April Sherry, cancer control director of the American Cancer Society Central Region.
For the second consecutive season, Penn State and Fullington Trailways will offer the Penn State Football Express to Beaver Stadium from Altoona and several locations in the State College area.
The service is designed to improve game day traffic and support the university's environmental goals.
"Considering the over 100,000 fans that pack into Beaver Stadium on football Saturdays, we want to provide a service that would be like a carpool to games," Penn State's Director of Transportation Services Teresa Davis said.
Reservations are required for the Altoona bus, which departs from Penn State Altoona four hours before kickoff and returns either one or three hours after the game. Round-trip cost is $18.
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