The record-breaking game attendance Saturday caused finding a parking spot to be even more of a problem than usual. Some fans were forced to park as far away as City Park and Lee and Burbank drives, according to the Baton Rouge Business Report.
Despite the traffic and parking problems during home football games, the Athletic Department and the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation have no plans to make changes to the system, though the situation is being monitored.
LSUPD estimated that more than 160,000 people were present on campus for Saturday’s game. The Athletic Department estimated that more than 45,000 cars were parked on and around campus.
Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation, said 35 drivers received parking tickets at the Florida game.
Most of these tickets were concentrated on the west side of campus, in handicapped zones and non-parking zones.
About 300 police and traffic assistants monitor traffic at each game.
Despite the congestion on campus, there are no immediate plans in the Athletic Department or Parking, Traffic and Transportation to improve gameday parking.
“After each season we look at past games and see if we need to make any adjustments,” said Herb Vincent, senior associate athletic director. Graham said gameday traffic is a problem that is being investigated.
“There is a committee of athletic, police and parking that get together and evaluates everything,” Graham said. “Since the popularity of LSU football keeps growing, we need to figure out a way to let people park easier.”
Vincent said one of the problems is that non-ticket holders come to campus and take up spaces on campus that are not reserved, causing a problem for people who have tickets. He said this is a problem that can’t be controlled right now.
Vincent said the Athletic Department’s main problem is fulfilling its obligation to season ticket holders while also upholding the tailgate tradition. He said it would be nearly impossible to restrict campus parking to ticket holders, because many family members tailgate together even though only some of them may have tickets.
“It’s a tough question to address,” Vincent said.
—Contact Joanna Brown at [email protected]