The WKU Hilltoppers will face off against the Central Arkansas Bears in the home opener of the 2019 football campaign at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, and there will be many changes to the normal parking and transportation services on campus, including closures and delays.

Support parking lots will be reserved starting Wednesday. These lots will not allow new entry after 4:30 p.m. and must be cleared by 6 p.m. These include:

• CHB Lot next to PS1

• Nick Denes Lot

• Smith West Lot

• H4 parking spaces on Avenue of Champions

• Spaces along the fence in Service Supply Lot

Event parking lots will be reserved starting on Thursday. These lots will not allow new entry after 2 p.m. and must be cleared by 3:30 p.m. These include:

• McCormack Lot

• Parking Structure 1 Levels 1-3

• H1 permits will be honored in Levels 4-7

• Parking Structure 2

• First floor will close to new entry beginning at 8:30 a.m.

• Remainder of the deck will close to new entry beginning at 2:00 p.m.

• Lots surrounding Diddle Arena

• South Lawn Lot

• Avenue of Champions faculty/staff parking

• A portion of the Poland Lot closest to Avenue of Champions

• Creason Lot OZ Zone and area closest to the softball field

Alternate parking will be provided in the following lots after 2 p.m. on Thursday:

• Parking Structure 3. Transit service to campus will be provided by the Big Red Route (towards the valley) and Hilltopper Route (towards Gary Ransdell Hall).

• Alumni Square Garage, but limited space will be available. The Hilltopper transit route bus stop is located on Kentucky Street at 13th Avenue and serves academic buildings along Normal Street and State Street.

• Park Street Lot, which is the new lot on Park Street between Cabell Drive and 14th Avenue. Transit service is provided by the Big Red Route and serves academic buildings on Normal Street and State Street.

Avenue of Champions will close for event traffic only at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Downing Student Union and Douglas Keen Hall bus stops will also close during this time.

The Big Red Route runs until 9 p.m. on Thursday. It will detour at 3:30 p.m. onto University Boulevard and will continue to serve the Russellville Road West and Parking Structure 3 stops throughout the afternoon and the Wal-Mart stop in the evening.

The Evening On-Demand Van Service will operate from 9-11 p.m., but any pick-up and drop-off locations that can be accessed from Avenue of Champions will not be available while Avenue of Champions is closed. 

Heavy traffic and delays in all of the transit services throughout the evening should be expected, which means students will need to allow plenty of time to reach their destination.

For more information, visit www.wku.edu/transportation.

Reporter Jesse Spencer can be reached at 270-745-6291 and [email protected].