|
The tailgate party takes on even greater importance this year for Aggie football games, as Texas A&M officials are hoping fans come early and stay late to help ease traffic and parking congestion on campus. In the name of progress – namely the construction of a west campus parking garage and underground pedestrian passageway – the activity around Wellborn Road on the west side of Kyle Field will be bustling, to say the least. Wellborn Road will be reduced to only two lanes – one each way – during the two-year construction for the west campus garage and tunnel that will connect the west and east campuses. During this year’s football season, fans will be allowed to cross over to Kyle Field from the west campus in only three locations – through a temporary walkway directly across from the Kyle Field press box, at Joe Routt Boulevard and Old Main by the Albritton Tower.
"It’s progress, and it’s going to cause some inconveniences for a couple of years while construction is going on," said athletic director Wally Groff. "This project will occur for about two years and so will the south end zone project, so it could affect two or three football seasons. "It’s going to be a nice, wide underground pedestrian passage. It will really make parking much easier on the west campus than it has in the past. It will make it much easier to get from west to east. Our recommendation is come a little earlier and stay a little later." A few parking lots also will be displaced because of the construction near the Student Rec Center. And while some of the lettering for lots for football parking have changed on parking passes, the majority of lots have remained the same for Aggie faithful. "The most people who will be displaced are in lot P and E across the tracks," said Miles Marks, the CEO and Executive Director of the 12th Man Foundation. "They are all going to Reed Arena. We want those people to get here early so they can have a leisurely walk to the stadium." Other changes in parking for this football season include the departure for all Lot A patrons next to Kyle Field. Those fans must exit the lot to the south on Wellborn Road. Cars parked on the north side of Joe Routt Boulevard must exit to the north on Wellborn, while most west campus lots will empty onto Olsen Boulevard or Discovery Drive. Recreational vehicles again will park in Lot F and Lot R at the south end of Kyle Field, as well as in Lot L next to Olsen Field. Owners of RV’s in Lot R must park their vehicles in one spot unless you possess two parking passes. "Every space in every lot is assigned to somebody," Marks said. "If you take two of them without having two passes, then you’re taking someone else’s space. That’s not something we want." This year, new lots have been designated near the George Bush Library and medical school complex. And in 2002, a new RV lot will be unveiled adjacent to the Texas A&M Tennis Center. "The 12th Man Foundation executive committee agreed to fund $100,000 toward that lot in order to have hook-ups for RV’s," Groff said. "That will be our primary RV lot, even though Olsen will still have one. The others around the stadium will be moved down there, and we’ll utilize a first-class shuttle from that lot up to Wellborn Road." All football fans are urged to check their parking passes to look for any changes in lot assignments or identifications. And, of course, patience with parking will be a virtue in Aggieland over the next few years on gamedays. "Two years from now, we’ll have the finest parking in the country for football," Marks added.
|
All contents of this site ©2001
12th Man Foundation unless otherwise noted.