UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Transportation Services has announced traffic, parking and transit impacts related to Penn State’s annual Homecoming Parade, which will wind through campus and downtown State College Friday, Oct. 13, beginning at 6 p.m.
Parade route and parking
Parade participants will organize the fields east of Medlar Field. From there, the parade units will follow the following route:
- Form on Curtin Road and travel west, crossing University Drive, where the parade will be joined by units that have formed near the IM Building
- West on Curtin Road to Bigler Road
- South on Bigler Road to Pollock Road
- West on Pollock Road to Shortlidge Road
- South on Shortlidge Road to College Avenue
- West on College Avenue to Burrowes Road
- North on Burrowes Road to Curtin Road
- The parade will disperse at the Burrowes/Curtin intersection
The parade route will be closed to vehicular traffic from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade. Parking along the route will be restricted. Motorists must remove parked vehicles on College Avenue prior to the start of the parade.
Paid visitor parking will be available for $1 per hour at the following locations:
- Nittany Parking Deck
- East Parking Deck
- West Deck
- HUB Deck (Please note that vehicles will be unable to exit the HUB Deck from approximately 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade.)
Most other campus parking areas are reserved 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and require a valid permit.
Normal evening/weekend regulations will be in place for faculty/staff and student permit holders.
Parade-related road closures
To accommodate the parade, the following road closures will be in place on Friday (see times for closing below):
- Porter Road between Curtin Road and the southernmost entrance to the Jordan East parking area will be closed from 4:30 p.m. until parade units have left the area (expected to be around 7 p.m.)
- Curtin Road between University Drive and Porter Road will be closed from 4:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade
- The following roads will be closed from 5:30 p.m. through the conclusion of the parade:
- Curtin Road between University Drive and Bigler Road
- Bigler Road between Curtin Road and Pollock Road
- Pollock Road between Bigler Road and Shortlidge Road
- Shortlidge Road between Pollock Road and College Avenue
- College Avenue between Shortlidge Road and Burrowes Road
- Burrowes Road between College Avenue and Curtin Road
Curtin Road will also be closed between Atherton Street and Burrowes Road from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday for the Guard the Lion Shrine event. The Lion Shrine visitor parking lot will close at 5:30 p.m. and all vehicles must be removed by that time.
As a result of the impacts to Burrowes and Pollock Roads, vehicles exiting Brown A, Brown B, Brown E, and Old Main will be directed to travel northbound on Fraser Road from Pollock Road to Curtin Road. The gates on Pollock Road near Old Main will be raised Friday evening to allow Brown B permit holders to utilize this exit route and the bollards separating Fraser Road from Curtin Road will also be removed to allow vehicles to use the exit route.
All vehicles attempting to exit Jordan East will be required to do so via Dauer Road to University Drive or via the southernmost exit to Porter Road near the outdoor track beginning at 5 p.m. Friday.
Penn State University Police will be directing traffic at various intersections on campus, but delays should be expected.
Parking impacts
The section of Orange B north of the Nittany Lion Softball Park will be closed all day Friday. Alternative parking will be available at the Commuter lots (Stadium West, Jordan East, Porter North, Porter South).
Parking in the two sections of Orange B near Stone and Snyder Halls will remain available, however vehicles which have not left by 5:30 p.m. will be unable to leave until the conclusion of the parade.
Faculty, staff, and students who do not wish to remain parked until the conclusion of the parade should make plans to remove their vehicles from the following areas before 5:30 p.m. Friday:
- Yellow H (Shields Building)
- Yellow H (Wagner Building)
- Orange J (McCoy Natatorium)
- Lot 42 (north of Building 14) - vehicles must exit via Millennium Drive to Hastings Road.
- Lot 81 (at Ritner/Wolf Halls and Pollock Building) - vehicles must exit to Mifflin Road then travel south to McKean Road
- HUB Parking Deck
- Yellow J (Atherton Hall)
- Yellow N (College Avenue in front of Health and Human Development)
- Red H (Noll Lab)
- Green C (Waring Commons)
- Red K (vehicles will be able to exit west through the 101 N. Atherton St. Building parking lot to travel northbound on Atherton Street)
Fraser Road will be open to Curtin Road, so permit holders parking in the following areas wishing to use their normal exit routes should plan to exit prior to 5:30 p.m.:
- Old Main
- Brown B (Pond Lab)
- Brown E (Sparks Building)
- Brown A (Willard, Reber and Deike buildings) - vehicles parked in the Reber and Deike sections of Brown A must access Fraser Road by traveling north between the Willard and Steidle buildings.
If exiting these lots after the beginning of the parade, vehicles should travel on Pollock Road to Fraser Road, travel northbound on Fraser and exit on Curtin Road.
University Police will be stationed along the parade route beginning at 5 p.m. to help facilitate rush-hour traffic flow and begin closing the route.
Impacts to CATABUS and Campus Shuttle services
As a result of road closings across campus during the parade, routing changes will be made to the majority of CATABUS routes (including the Blue Loop, White Loop, and the Red Link) from approximately 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Friday. There will be no service provided to the following bus stop locations during the parade:
- Curtin Road - Pattee Transit Center, Pavilion Theatre, Visual Arts Building, East Halls, Natatorium, IM Building, Shields Building, Bryce Jordan Ticket Center, and Stadium West Parking.
- Burrowes Rd - (all stops)
- Porter Road – Beaver Stadium, Athletic Administration, Jordan East Parking, and Medlar Field
- Hastings Road - (all stops)
- Bigler Road - (all stops)
- Pollock Road - (all stops)
- Shortlidge Road – (all stops)
- College Avenue - (all stops between University Drive and Atherton Street)
- Pugh Street - between Fairmont Avenue and College Avenue
Visit https://catabus.com/homecoming_detourinformation for a full list of CATABUS detours in place during the parade.
Campus Shuttle service will end at 5 p.m. Friday due to parade-related road closures.
For more information about parking, contact Penn State Transportation Services, 814-865-1436, parking@psu.edu; and for traffic questions, contact University Police and Public Safety, 814-863-1111, police@psu.edu.