MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Thousands are descending on the Morgantown area for one, or all of the many events planned for the Mountaineer opening weekend with Penn State. The live airing of the “Pat McAfee Show,” Big Noon Kickoff, and of course the noon kickoff of the WVU/Penn State game.
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” University Police Chief Sherry St. Clair said the gates open for the “Pat McAfee Show” at 9 a.m. in the area of the Life Sciences Building and more than 10,000 are estimated to attend. On The Mountainlair, staff from the Big Noon Kickoff on Fox will be passing out lunch and helping students make signs to be displayed during their national broadcast Saturday morning. In addition to offering some short term parking lots St. Clair also recommended using another method to get downtown.
“We’re also recommending residents to take the PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) system,” St. Clair said. ” You could park at the Coliseum and take the engineering PRT or even downtown from Walnut Street.”
St. Clair praised the universal response including all area law enforcement agencies for the multiple events and activities set to happen through the end of the weekend. She added that officers work hard to get people in and out, but she asks motorists to watch for signs, message boards, and most of all obey the commands from officers at intersections.
“With all the agencies coming together it really works good now,” St. Clair said. “We just ask people to look for the signs coming into town, pay attention to the officers working the intersections, and usually we can get you in smoothly and get you out.”
For this sell out contest she asks residents to enter the stadium as soon as possible on game day to attempt to limit congestion in the outer concourse and gate area.
“We know noon games have more of a backup at the gates- people want stay at their tailgate as long as possible,” St. Clair said. ” But, we’re really suggesting that people get into the game as soon as possible.”
The gate area will be somewhat experimental due to new technology being deployed as part of the Campus Self Defense Act- metal detectors at the stadium entrances. The devices are very common across the nation and local school systems and are not expected to cause delays, but there is a chance an equipment adjustment could be needed that could slow the entry process.
“This is the first game we’ll be using the weapons detection devices at the gate,” St. Clair said. “There should be no hold up, we ask people to just walk straight through them and don’t take anything out of your pockets.”
After the game when the celebrations commence St. Clair urges fans to be responsible and think twice.
” I know they want to go celebrate and we will direct traffic out as fast as possible and we’ll have extra officers staying around just make sure everything goes ok,” St. Clair said. ” Please be respectful to the other fans and please be respectful when you start celebrating.”