Stadium officials warn
of UH-BYU game traffic

Football fans are urged to arrive
early and use buses or car pools

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By B.J. Reyes
breyes@starbulletin.com

Wary of the traffic problems that resulted from last week's state high school football championship, Aloha Stadium officials are urging people to arrive early and take advantage of buses or carpools for Saturday's sold-out University of Hawaii football finale.

The game's 11:05 a.m. start means there will be no swap meet, but stadium officials still expect a crush of traffic with more than 50,000 fans headed to the game.

"The best suggestion I can make to people ... is come early," said Les Keiter, the stadium's spokesman.

Saturday's game matches Hawaii against undefeated Brigham Young University.

On Friday, traffic from the state championship combined with the normal rush-hour slowdowns caused backups for miles in all directions around Aloha Stadium.

Similar gridlock has resulted at other sold-out Hawaii football contests, including last year's home opener against Portland State and the 1999 season-opening sellout against the University of Southern California.

Because the swap meet has been canceled, "That's going to eliminate any possible crossovers from the swap meet ending into the (start of the) football game," Keiter said.

Still, "I think we're going to have a tremendous traffic problem basically because the game is a sellout," he said.

Pearl City police said the regular number of football game special-duty officers will be employed Saturday.

Stadium turnstile gates will open at 8 a.m. with parking gates scheduled to open a half-hour earlier. Alternate parking will be available at:

>> Leeward Community College: free parking, $2 round-trip shuttle service beginning at 8:30 a.m. and continuing for an hour after the game.

>> Halawa Bus Facility: $3 per vehicle, free shuttle service beginning at 8:30 a.m. and continuing for an hour after the game.

>> Radford High School: $2 per vehicle, no shuttle service.

No alternate parking will be allowed at Kam Drive-In or Ford Island. Additionally, no tailgating is allowed at the alternate parking sites, stadium officials said.

"If you can do it, come in the buses," Keiter said. "You avoid the hassle, you avoid the parking problem, and you don't have to worry about where you're putting your car."

More information on parking and shuttle bus services can be found at alohastadium.hawaii.edu/index.html online.