CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In anticipation of the Oct. 7 Monday night Chicago Bears football game against the Green Bay Packers beginning at 8 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, the campus has issued guidelines regarding street closures, parking and campus hours for game day.
"While we don't anticipate traffic delays at the start of the day, even with the early morning closure of Kirby Avenue, we do expect a high level of congestion at the end of the workday as more and more fans begin to arrive," said Charles Colbert, vice chancellor for administration and human resources. "Please allow some extra time when leaving the campus that evening. We all should keep in mind that this is a great opportunity to showcase our campus and community nationwide."
The guidelines:
Street closures
Kirby Avenue will be closed to traffic between First and Fourth streets from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Peabody Drive will be closed to traffic between First and Fourth streets from 3:15 p.m. until midnight.
Parking information
All employees with valid campus parking permits will be allowed access to their regular parking facilities.
Parking at metered spaces on Peabody Drive between First and Fourth streets will be prohibited all day.
Parking at metered spaces on Fourth Street between Armory and Kirby avenues will be prohibited all day.
Parking at metered spaces on Stadium Drive between Oak and First streets will be prohibited all day.
Parking at metered spaces on Pennsylvania Avenue between Lincoln Avenue and Fourth Street will be prohibited all day.
Oak Street in Champaign will be available only for parking of vehicles with valid E-22 campus permits.
Overnight parking for early arriving football fans will not be allowed in any university parking facility.
Designated parking areas for the football game will officially open at 4 p.m.
Hours
Campus buildings will have normal operating hours and employees will have normal working hours.
o MTD bus service
A number of bus routes will be changed with the start of the service day on Monday:
1N Yellow: Lot E-14 to Oak to Gregory to Fourth to Peabody and regular route.
1S Yellow: Peabody to Fourth to Gregory to Oak to Lot E-14 and regular route.
23W Shuttle to campus: Lot E-14 to Oak to Gregory to Fourth to Peabody and regular route.
23W Shuttle to Lot E-14: Peabody to Fourth to Gregory to Oak to Lot E-14 and regular route.
23E Shuttle to campus: Lot E-14 to Oak to Gregory to regular route.
23E Shuttle to Lot E-14: Gregory to Oak to Kirby to First to Lot E-14.
The following bus reroutes will begin at 2 p.m.:
4E Blue: Stadium to Oak to Gregory to Fourth to Peabody and regular route.
4W Blue: Peabody to Fourth to Gregory to Oak to Stadium and regular route.
5W Express p.m.: Pennsylvania to Sixth to Peabody to Fourth and regular route.
8/80 Orchard Downs to Campus: Pennsylvania to Dorner to Gregory to Fourth and regular route.
9A Brown: Peabody to Fourth to Gregory to Oak to Stadium to Hessel to State to Fox Drive and regular route.
9B Brown: Fox Drive to State to Hessel to Stadium to Oak to Gregory to Fourth to Peabody and regular route.
10E Gold: Stadium to Oak to Gregory to Fourth to Peabody and regular route.
10W Gold: Peabody to Fourth to Gregory to Oak to Stadium and regular route.
22 Illini to FAR/PAR: First to Gregory and regular route.
22 Illini to Engineering: Gregory to First and regular route.
26 Pack to Illini Orange: Gregory to First to Stadium and regular route.
The MTD will do everything possible to maintain service but delays should be expected.
Traffic pattern changes and other game-related information is available on the university hotline (265-8473) and in the announcements section on the left side of the campus Web page (www.uiuc.edu).