IU announces new game-day traffic routes

The Indiana Department of Transportation will be managing traffic signals along the Indiana 37 Bypass during IU football games via camera systems from its Indianapolis office. The change is part of a plan to better control area game-day traffic.

The change will route traffic in a clockwise pattern around IU’s Memorial Stadium after the game and a minimum of two hours before kick-off.

The new traffic system will turn Fee Lane, 17th Street and Dunn Street into one-way streets. The Indiana 46 Bypass will remain a two-way street that will only allow eastbound traffic to enter into the clockwise pattern, according to an IU press release.

The traffic system, pushed by the IU board of trustees, was created in conjunction with the IU Athletics Department, Gorove-Slade Associates and INDOT traffic engineers, the release said.

“This new plan should significantly improve traffic. Our new game-day experience and new stadium won’t mean much if people can’t get there,” Athletics Director Fred Glass said in the press release.

“They (INDOT) have been a tremendous help and offered us a lot of support,” said  Kit Klingelhoffer, assistant athletics director for game management.

INDOT has provided its services to IU free of charge. The only cost for the new traffic system is from signs around campus detailing the game-day traffic flow.

An increase in the Monroe County population and IU students has increased local traffic and made the game-day plan more difficult to implement, Klingelhoffer said.

“Nothing is going to be perfect,” he said.