Mizzou football Thursday night season kickoff likely to create traffic gridlock
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and University of Missouri police are advising everyone who is not going to the Mizzou football game to avoid downtown.
The Mizzou Tigers host South Dakota State on Thursday night at Faurot Field. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. but tailgates began hours before.
“Obviously when you have a ton of people coming to the stadium it creates traffic gridlock between the people trying to get into different parking lots and pedestrians crossing the major roadways,” Cpl. Kyle Green of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
For those going to the games, MSHP advises fans to have their tickets and parking passes ready on their phones before they arrive to help make getting into the stadium more efficient.
“This year everything is going to a digital parking pass,” Green said. "If they can have their digital parking pass ready to go when they are getting ready to enter the lot that would be preferred. That way it will speed up the whole process.
"We are just hoping to avoid situations where people are digging around looking for their phone or trying to figure out where the pass is on their phone."
MUPD spokesperson Sara Diedrich says anyone who is not going to the game can expect delays if they are traveling through Downtown Columbia.
“If you are not going to go to the game I would say sometime later in the day you might want to avoid the area of campus because it is going to be really busy,” Diedrich said.
The MSHP says there are several problem areas that will have heavy traffic. Traffic will be especially heavy on Stadium Boulevard and Providence Road, he stressed.
Green said these delays can last up to an hour after the game ends as everyone is leaving the stadium. However, he says the time of the delays depends on the opponent. Mizzou is favored over South Dakota by 28 points.
“Sometimes you get people if it is a blowout game they leave early and sometimes if they are losing by quite a bit they’ll leave early," Green said. "Weather-wise, sometimes that plays a role. But that is kind of on a game-by-game basis.”
Diedrich added that while waiting in traffic is frustrating people should try to be respectful of others when leaving the stadium.
“When you are leaving keep in mind everybody is leaving so you know try to be patient, tolerant of people driving trying to get out of parking lots. We have security officers to help keep traffic moving at the end of the game so that everyone can get out as quickly and safely as possible,” Diedrich advised.
Aside from assisting with traffic control, the MSHP Highway Patrol will be on hand to help with stadium security.
“Our first main goal is to make sure everybody can into the stadium safely. Make sure everyone can get parked where they are supposed to and try to do it as efficiently and safely as possible," Green said. "The second role that we play is just overall security inside the stadium in case something happens, maybe there is a medical emergency or maybe somebody is a little disruptive then we will handle that.”
The university will not be using metal detectors at games this season. This will help make getting into the stadium easier but Green acknowledged that it will be easier for fans to sneak things into games.
