Editor’s note: The following was sent to all faculty/staff last week by Vice President for University Operations Lynn Johnson.
Dear Colleagues,
Football season is upon us!
I want to share important information about our first Friday night home game on September 3, including a special gift of appreciation for you, and adjustments for parking access on main campus.
After a missed in-person season, the CSU community is looking forward to the excitement game day brings to students and fans, opportunities for engagement with alumni and donors, and numerous touch points our fabulous Canvas Stadium offers to enhance our community and educational mission.
University Operations, CSU Athletics, the Alumni Association, and many other campus partners, have been working for weeks to make sure our campus community is prepared for this season’s Friday night football game on September 3 at Canvas Stadium as the Rams host South Dakota State with a 7 p.m. kickoff. We will begin early that day getting campus ready.
Special employee appreciation gift
As a special thank you for the incredible work done by CSU employees during the pandemic and a “welcome back” to campus, every non-student CSU employee will receive two free tickets to the game, a parking pass and a $10 voucher for food at the stadium, courtesy of CSU Athletics and Canvas Credit Union. Since students already receive tickets through student fees, student-employees are not included. To claim your tickets visit csurams.com/promo and enter the nine digits of your Employee ID#/Ram Card#. (Do not enter the 10th digit that is after the hyphen on a Ram Card.)
For the September 3 game, we’ve created a detailed plan that focuses on providing faculty and staff with several options, based on university needs and individual schedules, as approved by supervisors, to ensure as little disruption as possible to the university’s academic and business operations as campus is readied for the game.
Please see the four time-shot maps linked below and within the text, which visually outline how campus will change throughout the day, including parking lot and road closures, and adjustments to HORN shuttle routes.
Normal class schedule and University operations
Parking and Traffic Adjustments
The university will not cancel classes or close university operations early. Please keep the following in mind for work, accessing campus and parking:
- Employees who can work from home or other remote locations on Friday, September 3, should consider making arrangements with their supervisors to do so and avoid coming to campus.
- Supervisors are encouraged to accommodate these requests when possible (see pages 8-9 for the university telecommuting policy: https://hr.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2020/06/HRS-Manual-Human-Resource-Services-Colorado-State-University.pdf).
- Faculty and staff are advised that some offices and units will need to be fully staffed for most or all of the day to provide services to students and employees, and they may be required to physically report to campus, depending upon their supervisor’s decision about unit needs.
- Parking in lots on the South and Foothills campuses will remain open and accessible.
- Anyone without a game ticket and associated parking pass must remove their vehicle from campus lots, garages, meter and street parking by 2 p.m., unless you have an employee game-day work permit issued by your department head. Vehicles that are not moved by that time will be ticketed, towed or both.
- Lots will reopen for regular permitted parking 30 minutes after the game ends.
- The traffic pattern on campus streets will transition for game day by 4 p.m.; this means that virtually all access roads to and from campus will be in-bound traffic only, so plan your day accordingly. You will not be able to leave campus once the pattern is in place, with the exception of a few exits on the east side of campus that can be accessed from the lots where employee game-day work permit parking is allotted (these permits are distributed through Deans or other unit heads).
- Several parking lots and roads will be closed, as outlined below.
- Please see additional information at the bottom of this email on “Recommendation according to university unit and individual employee schedule and needs.”
Students must repark Thursday between 4 and 9 p.m.
- Students should relocate to lots 115, 145, 170, 220, 470, 577 or 570. Students will receive direct messaging about their repark hours and locations. This will include three direct email messages from Athletics the week of the game, along with additional messages from Housing and Dining Services and messages that are distributed through different means (in addition to email).
- Students may move cars back to regular permitted parking 30 minutes after the game ends.
- Football Game Day Information
Thank you for your cooperation and we hope to see you at the pre-game activities and football game.
Sincerely,
Lynn Johnson
Vice President University Operations
Recommendations according to University
unit and individual schedule and needs
Work off-site or take alternative transportation
- If you are able to work away from campus, make arrangements with your supervisor to work from home or telecommute from some other location all of the day or by 2 p.m.
- Take alternative transportation such as Transfort or MAX, or ride your bike to avoid parking and driving on campus.
If you must come to campus, leave by 2 p.m. if possible
- Leave by 2 p.m. to avoid traffic and parking impacts.
- If you need to make up hours to be able to leave early, work with your supervisor to create a plan.
Starting at 7 a.m.:
CLICK HERE to view pdf of 7 a.m. campus snapshot map
- Several parking lots will be closed all day. These parking lots will be closed all day Friday, September 3. All vehicles parked in these lots after 7 a.m. will be towed:
- Lot #165 at Green Hall/Scott Bioengineering
- Lot 240 directly west of the stadium
- Lot 446 at Meridian
- Lot 475 at Aylesworth
- Lot 210 Hughes Way parking
- Lot 215 at Ingersoll
- Lot 230 at Academic Village
- Lot 236 at Newsom
- Lot 245 at Summit
- Lot 410 Hughes Way parking
- Commuters/faculty/staff may use Moby (195), Lake Street Lot (585), Lake Street Garage (570) 2nd floor and up, and South College Garage (577) 2nd floor and up until 2 p.m. at which time they will close.
- Bike racks near the stadium will be removed Thursday evening to accommodate the road closures. These racks will be relocated to Pitkin Street east of Canvas Stadium and will be available for bike commuters at that location on Friday.
Starting by 12 p.m.:
CLICK HERE to view pdf of 12 p.m. campus snapshot map
- Roads near the stadium will be closed no later than 12 p.m. to prepare for the game, and may be restricted use earlier during the day:
o Meridian between Lake Street and Hughes Way
o Pitkin Street between Meridian and Shields Street
o Lake Street between Meridian and Shields Street
- Parking availability in two lots will be impacted by these road closures. Cars parked in those lots before 12 p.m. must leave by 2 p.m. Cars not already parked in these lots cannot enter the lots after 12 p.m.
- Morgan Library Lot 425
- Hartshorn Lot 412 & 415
- Lake Street Lot 585
Starting at 2 p.m.:
CLICK HERE to view pdf of 2 p.m. campus snapshot map
- Parking in other university lots and the two garages is available during the day until 2 p.m. All lots, garages, street and meter parking must be cleared of vehicles by 2 p.m., with towing and ticketing starting by 2:30 p.m.
- Around the Horn will provide regular shuttle service across campus with all stops open until 12 p.m. on Friday.
- After 12 p.m., the route will be abbreviated (see maps) and serve the east side of campus, with continued service to the Research Boulevard lot until 3:00 p.m.
- At 3 p.m., Around the Horn will transition to serve game day attendees and run only from Lake and College to Canvas Stadium.
- This means that the last shuttle to serve campus will likely leave the LSC Transit Center at or shortly after 2:45 p.m., completing the abbreviated route to the south, and then transitioning to game service; plan accordingly to catch Around the Horn at a campus stop on the abbreviated route before or by 2:45 p.m.
Make special arrangements or use remote parking if you’re on campus after 2 p.m.
If you must be on campus after 2 p.m. on Friday, September 3 , you’ll need to consider limited parking and Around the Horn (the on-campus shuttle) options.
After 4 p.m.:
CLICK HERE to view pdf of 4 p.m. campus snapshot map
- Take alternative transportation to and from campus or make arrangements for a ride to drop you off and pick you up. You may need to walk to an off-campus destination because all access roads to campus will be inbound traffic only after 4 p.m.
- Park at the Research Boulevard lot on the South Campus but be aware that Around the Horn shuttle service to that lot will end early.
- Game-day parking passes allotted to employees via department heads will be valid during the game. These passes, which are offered in limited quantities, can be used after 2 p.m. when a vehicle is parked in the area designated by the pass, and those using the pass may leave after 4 p.m. from the east side of campus only.
