Game Day Parking Observation

akriesman · October 1, 2018

On saturday it looked like a lot of things regarding crowd control were cleaned up inside the stadium, compared to the SMU game. The entire atmosphere at the game was just terrific (thanks Wren and others).

However, if near-sellout crowds start becoming the norm, parking is definitely going to be an issue that needs to be addressed and some clarifications need to be made.

I know that the blue lot sold out early in the morning.

We arrived at the orange lot around 5:30pm (hour before kickoff) and the orange lot was sold out. To make matters worse, I saw them turning away people with pre-paid parking passes coming from the north down North Texas Blvd. As a result, tempers were flaring and the parking attendants were taking some abuse.

The Orange, Red and Blue lots are technically the only sanctioned parking lots on gameday. And, these were all full. This caused a lot of confusion. Unless you are a current student, you have no idea where to park as nearly everything around campus is reserved. We ended up parking near the admin building in a reserved spot. I saw fans parking in dorm parking lots and just about anywhere they could park. My wife was worried about being towed. But, it would have been impossible to tow everyone that was parked in a reserved spot.

I do believe that an overflow situation needs to be mentioned on the North Texas gameday parking website. I checked the site before the game just in case all the lots were full. Unfortunately, there was no mention of what to do if all the lots are full.

I need to call the ticket office today, because they allowed me to purchase a prepaid parking pass on saturday morning, but never sent it to me. I don't care about getting the money back for the parking pass. But, they need to know that the system has a flaw and there was a lot of confusion overall.

I know if you are a tailgater, then parking is not really an issue. But, so many people arrive in the last hour before the game and the parking problems could run some new fans off.

BTW, how was the Blue lot parking handled this week ? Was there more than a single attendant ? It probably helped that they did not accept cash this time.

Edited October 1, 2018 by akriesman

untcampbell · October 1, 2018

There was a 5-7 minute wait to get into the parking lot a little before 3 pm (missed part of the IPF groundbreaking, but that was my fault). And there were a few more minutes sitting on Bonnie Brae just to get to the blue lot entrance. I understand that as it gets closer to game time but this was 3.5 hours before. Lots of pre-game events probably affected that some.

I think they need to find a way to get those with parking passes through without waiting for those that are paying. There were, however, at least six people helping on the road going into the blue lot.

Getting out was grid lock, literally, for at least 20 minutes. We had beverages at our tailgate. Good decision but I am sure those in the mess weren't too thrilled. My guess is most of that was related to a jammed I-35. No one was moving there so no one could move behind them.

Looking forward to getting Bonnie Brae widened.

GMG

Withers940 · October 1, 2018

Getting out of the Blue Lot on Saturday was awful. Took us close to 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot and we parked towards the exit. They have to figure out a better way to get people out of there.

jredallas · October 1, 2018

Yes, I found on the front end to be smoother, but I arrived much earlier than I did for SMU to catch the statue unveiling. There were two attendants scanning parking passes from the Bonnie Brae entrance. I was also stuck in there for about 45 minutes on the way out with a sleepy 8 year old. That is truly unacceptable, regardless of it being a full lot and everyone essentially leaving at the same time with a close game until the end.

Edited October 2, 2018 by jredallas

meaniegreenie · October 1, 2018

Arriving at ~5:30, had no problems getting in to the Blue (with a pass) and there were plenty of spots to park, so I'm not sure about the part about it being sold out. Did they reach a point at which they would no longer allow paying customers in?

Don't know what was going on with exiting. I've never experienced that kind of delay before. We exited to the S/W Bonnie Brae direction (left turn) and it looked like it was backed up with everyone turning right, but everything was just at a standstill for a long time.

UNTFan23 · October 1, 2018

Also, anyone that parked along Highland Park Road got hit with a parking ticket.

DentonLurker · October 1, 2018

We arrived right at 6 and there were very few spots left in the Blue Lot so it definitely filled up. We came on the NT Blvd side. The issue we had getting in was people in line who didn't have parking passes. Where they were scanning passes was so far down the road that cars were having to figure out how to do a complete U-turn on a two lane road. That being said, we still got in relatively smoothly. I wish they would make the road that runs past the pond/hill from NT Blvd 3 lanes (2 in, 1 out pre-game). Having two lanes scanning passes would certainly speed things up.

Exiting the Bonnie Brae side took some time, but honestly, it didn't seem that ridiculous compared to other venues I've been to.

RiseUNT · October 1, 2018

Getting into and leaving fiesta texas, sea world, and six flags Arlington on busy days take forever. When Att is sold out I have to park and walk from Grand Prairie. I take the train to avoid traffic for AA center. I take the VIA to avoid the traffic at spurs games. I literally drove for an hour to find parking at SMU game. I went to allstar NBA in new orleans and omg that was 30 minutes to get into and out of any event. Any event in Austin is traffic hell.

I don't understand all this complaining because every place that is close to capacity is a cluster fuck.

Edited October 1, 2018 by RiseUNT

Stan R · October 1, 2018

Same experience, orange lot prepaid, turned away due to it being full. I had a unique alternative though, I parked in the business building parking garage and asked if I could park there for free since I paid for parking already. They said yes and sure enough, leaving a few hours later, they honored that when I showed the prepaid ticket. Pretty cool although I agree with all prior comments about an alternative lane for prepay and obviously, keeping track of how many you actually sold. 😒

jacksondf · October 1, 2018

Getting out of the Blue Lot was awful. They need someone to direct traffic if they don’t want people to leave early to beat the 45 minute gridlock.

NT93 · October 1, 2018

Took me about 35 minutes to get out of the orange lot, but once I was out of the lot, I was heading north on 35 in no time.

What was worse to me was the pile-up of people trying to walk across the bridge. You were literally taking about one step every five seconds until you actually got on the bridge.

That being said, it's a good problem to have. I'd rather have 30K at the game and take 30-45 minutes to get out than 20K (or less) and get out in 15-20 minutes

meangreenJW · October 1, 2018

2 hours ago, RiseUNT said:

Getting into and leaving fiesta texas, sea world, and six flags Arlington on busy days take forever. When Att is sold out I have to park and walk from Grand Prairie. I take the train to avoid traffic for AA center. I take the VIA to avoid the traffic at spurs games. I literally drove for an hour to find parking at SMU game. I went to allstar NBA in new orleans and omg that was 30 minutes to get into and out of any event. Any event in Austin is traffic hell.

I don't understand all this complaining because every place that is close to capacity is a cluster fuck.

To this point, I hate being stuck waiting. So I usually watch the presser on the video board before leaving. However, 30-45 minutes is probably below the average for most venues. I've spent over an hour trying to get out of the parking lot at ATT stadium after a Cowboys game several times.

RiseUNT · October 2, 2018

Also time moves slower and everything pisses you off after a loss like that.

Pavlovs Eagle · October 2, 2018

34 minutes ago, meangreenJW said:

I've spent over an hour trying to get out of the parking lot at ATT stadium after a Cowboys game several times.

I've gotten to the point I just go to the W bar to have an adult beverage after any Mavs game or Concert at the AAC. I've waited an hour just to get out of the Lexus and Silver garage when I've tried to immediately leave.

In regards to the Blue lot. I turned left on North Texas blvd from 35E North exit at about 4pm. I noticed cash was $35 and credit was $30 (which in my world would usually be opposite... don't tell my processor!). They had two guys scanning at the entrance by the pond off North Texas Blvd. They do need to figure out an alternate exit and make it two lanes going in on game day. Other than a Credit transaction in front of me taking forever, I was in quickly.

In regards to exiting, I watched till the last second of the game, walked down the stairs from the Hub Club, around to the gate behind the visitors section and straight out to my car. I was more held up by having to go to the next light past North Texas Blvd due to the cones keeping blue lot folks from getting on. I dont mind that, but they need someone manually controlling the next southbound access road intersection. It was only letting 3 cars through the light before changing. Probably spend 15 mins trying to get through that light to get on 35E southbound.

I was parked in the first row faced out toward the RV tailgate spots. I get there 30 min prior to the Alumni Pavilion opening usually. I walk around with my personally provided trunk booze for half an hour till I can get into the Alumni Pavilion.

Rudy · October 2, 2018

I think the problem exiting the Blue Lot onto North Texas Blvd stemmed from the light at 35E & McCormick cycled too quickly. Need to have someone there directing traffic.

THOR · October 2, 2018

4 hours ago, Withers940 said:

Getting out of the Blue Lot on Saturday was awful. Took us close to 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot and we parked towards the exit. They have to figure out a better way to get people out of there.

it was a huge crowd...gonna take time. we just decided to extend our tailgate and play some music while enjoying some cookies after the game...no hurry to leave...traffic is going to suck with 25000 folks leaving at the same time...stay parked and relax...when i left, no traffic, no wait, no issues

Ken14 · October 2, 2018

We got to the Orange lot (prepaid) about 4 30 after a round at Tom's … it was backed up but they sent us to the front of Fouts, caught the UNT shuttle... off at gate 3B. Made it to see Mean Joe at the statue. Life is good. I did appreciate UNT PD for getting us out after a 45 minute wait to get back to the orange lot. GMG.

oldguystudent · October 2, 2018

Got stuck on entrance behind a big truck who very clearly had no idea that it was a pay lot. After some extended conversation, we got to wait for this behemoth of a vehicle to make a u-turn in a tiny spot.

Once in, it took me a minute to find a spot, but that didn't bother me. I was just pleasantly surprised that I couldn't do donuts in the blue lot two hours before kickoff.

We hauled ass out of the stadium once the field goal was blocked, and only had one rude guy (LA Tech Plates) cut us off on exit. It otherwise went smoothly.

I think everything else crowd wise went great. No issues in the stadium at all. (And we kinda sorta accidentally got in the stadium without tickets scanned, so that was interesting. We got them scanned later though, so no worries. It counted.)

untbowler · October 2, 2018

i was in the Blue Lot directly across from the Bearded Monk Tailgate tent and after walking leisurely to the car from Section 105, we were out of the parking lot in under 15 min. I was actually surprised it was that quick

RBP79 · October 2, 2018

Before game Blue lot one way in...after game...Blue lot one way out. Two lanes to work with coming and going.

Was impressed with Arkansas....parked a mile or so away down by baseball field for FREE then took a free UA bus right up to the stadium. After game buses were right there to take me back to where I parked...

UNTFan23 · October 2, 2018

21 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

Before game Blue lot one way in...after game...Blue lot one way out. Two lanes to work with coming and going.

Was impressed with Arkansas....parked a mile or so away down by baseball field for FREE then took a free UA bus right up to the stadium. After game buses were right there to take me back to where I parked...

Challenge is there is a bus that runs to the resident hall but it stops two hours before the game starts and resumes one hour after the game is over. Another challenge is there may be actual legitimate traffic that may need to exit the parking lot.

UNT 90 Grad · October 2, 2018

Part of me was excited about having to wait in a long line to get into the Blue lot in front of the tennis center 3 1/2 hours prior to kickoff. Gave me a strong feeling we’d be seeing a record crowd.

akriesman · October 2, 2018

Just a followup.....

I spoke with Kyle at the ticket office today regarding the current problems with parking and possible overflow solutions. They are well aware that there are issues and they are being addressed. He said one of the problems with the La Tech game was due to the fact that the red lot was closed because of mud. So, that might explain the problem with the orange lot filling up like it did.

He also mentioned something about using the parking garages on the east side as overflow. But, I don't think that is set in stone right now.

I have no doubt they will improve the situation in an expedited manner, given the track record of Wren and the entire (new) administration. I understand that game day traffic is going to be busy when everyone leaves a major event at the same time. My concern is with getting the information to the public about where they can park in an overflow situation and making sure they don't oversell prepaid lots. We don't want to drive away a lot of these new fans due to a bad parking experience (especially ticketing and/or towing). Those of us that have been around a long time know that this is new territory for the administration. New fans will only see the negative.

Cheeers

FirefightnRick · October 2, 2018

Welcome to BIG time college football!!

Rick

Legend500 · October 2, 2018

So far the Blue Lot situation has been generally unacceptable. It's not a matter of "gosh, any stadium is packed before a game and after a game" - that's totally fine. It's how the contractor (and by extension, UNT) seem genuinely shocked - SHOCKED that people are coming to the game.

This problem is caused by having a main parking lot with one entry/exit only, and then trying to keep that exit open for general traffic - that's ludicrous. I've never been waiting to get into the Manor Garage because the City of Austin decided that Dedman should stay two-way in case somebody needed to go get chicken fingers before the game. I've never had problems entering and exiting the North Sun Bowl lots, even in the rare case that they're full, because somehow UTEP uncovered the secret of multiple entries. We waited about 45 minutes to an hour to get out of the blue lots, which nearly beat the "leaving-the-game" record for me. And that record isn't even really fair, because it counts the walk up JFK Blvd. to the Red Line and waiting for an Alewife train.

Even more ludicrous is the exiting traffic flow - keeping all of the traffic to one lane in case somebody arriving late for the game needed to park to watch SMU or Louisiana Tech's band in the 5th quarter. Eventually last game everybody overruled them and formed a left-turn and a right-turn lane. As it should have been from the start.

There's also the staffing question. At 4 PM, there were 6 people working the blue lot entrance. At 530 there were three people. That's just hilarious.

The traffic situation is absolutely shambolic, and has a bigger impact on attendance than "only" going 4-1.