Street Closures and Parking Info for CSU Homecoming and Family Weekend

Several temporary road closures will be in place in Fort Collins during the Colorado State University Homecoming and Family Weekend Parade on Friday, Sept. 30.

The 90-minute parade will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the intersection of Howes Street and Oak Street in downtown Fort Collins. The parade will travel south on Howes, through the CSU Oval, across university plaza and will conclude on campus at Meridian Avenue and University Avenue, at the West Lawn of the Lory Student Center.

Beginning at noon Friday streets in the staging area will be closed and cleared of any parked cars. Individuals are asked to observe “No Parking” signs posted in the area.

The parade staging area includes:
– Howes, south of Mountain Avenue and north of Oak Street
– Oak Street, west of Howes and east of Sherwood, including both streets
– Sherwood Street, south of Mountain and north of and including Oak Street
– The intersections of Oak Street and Meldrum, Oak and Howes, and Oak and Sherwood

To avoid the staging area, drivers are encouraged to use Mountain or Laporte Streets for east-west routes and Mason or Loomis streets for north-south routes. Oak Street will remain open east of Howes for Larimer County Courthouse traffic. Streets in the staging area are scheduled to open as the area clears, starting at 5:30 p.m. However, no access to Howes south of Mountain Avenue will be allowed until the parade ends.

Beginning at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, streets along and feeding into the parade route will be closed. Parking along the parade route is prohibited all day, and any parked cars will be towed beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday. “No Parking” signs will be posted along the route. The parade route includes:
– Howes, south of Oak Street through Laurel Street, to the CSU Oval
– Oval Drive
– West Drive
– University Avenue, west of, and including, West Drive to Meridian

East-west streets along the parade route also will close starting at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, with traffic diverted from access to and across Howes. These streets include:
– W. Olive Street
– W. Magnolia Street
– W. Mulberry Street
– W. Myrtle Street
– W. Laurel Street

Meridian Avenue will be closed south of Plum Street and north of Lake Street for the duration of the parade, and only emergency access to Meridian from South Drive and Pitkin Street will be granted.

To avoid the parade route, east-west traffic is encouraged to use Prospect Road or Mountain Avenue. North-South traffic may use College Avenue or Shields Street.

All streets will open once the parade ends at 6 p.m. Friday evening.

Anyone whose vehicle is towed from the parade route or staging area should contact Fort Collins Police Services at (970) 221-6540 to reclaim their vehicle.

For more details on the parade route and closures, visit http://www.homecoming.colostate.edu/parade-route.aspx.

For more information about ongiong campus traffic and parking changes due to construction, visit http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=5758.

The city of Fort Collins bus service, Transfort, also will detour from several standard stops during the parade and parade staging, beginning at 1:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and ending at 6 p.m. Route 15 will be the only impacted route:
 

Southbound detour:
– From Downtown Transit Center (DTC), west on Maple to Howes, south on Howes to LaPorte Avenue, west on LaPorte to Loomis, south on Loomis to Meridian and Plum on campus, then east on Plum into CSU Campus Transit Center (CTC).

Northbound Detour: 
– From CTC, west to Plum and Meridian, north on Loomis to LaPorte, east on Laporte to Mason Street, north on Mason Street and into DTC.

Route 15 bus stops:
– Route 15 will not stop at Howes, the Howes post office, Mason or Olive. Northbound bus stops (from CTC to DTC) that will be in service during this time will be Meldrum and Myrtle (mid-block between Laurel and Myrtle), Meldrum and Mulberry (mid-block between Mulberry and Magnolia), eastbound Olive Street between Meldrum and Howes (post office stop).
– The final stop for Route 15 at Olive and Mason will not be serviced by Route 15, but will still be serviced by northbound routes 1 and 18 (going to DTC).

The following parking closures also will go into effect on the CSU campus the morning of Friday, Sept. 30:
– West side of the Oval
– West Drive
– Hartshorn East #420
– Meridian between University and Pitkin
– Pitkin Z lot #240
– Library lot #425 – motorcycle parking only (“A” parking and metered parking available)

The parade starting location allows for three additional east-west traffic corridors – Maple Street, LaPorte Avenue and Mountain Avenue – to ease traffic congestion during the parade.

The end of the parade also serves as the beginning of the communitywide Homecoming pep rally starting at about 6 p.m. on the west side of the Lory Student Center.

In addition to the parade, Homecoming and Family Weekend highlights include the Homecoming 5K Race beginning on the Oval at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 and the Homecoming football game at Hughes Stadium at noon Saturday, Oct. 1.

Visit http://www.homecoming.colostate.edu for a complete list of events.

 

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