Any advice on the topic is appreciated. So I hear people talking about the traffic/parking horrors this year on gameday. Is it a combo of normal College Station traffic plus basketball traffic, or is it all basketball traffic? Obviously last night there was a baseball element added to it as well.

I ask because I am coming into town for the Bama game. It's an 11am tipoff. So I am wondering if that will make traffic/parking not as bad as you aren't dealing with much normal CS traffic at that time on a Saturday. I am currently staying at The George and would prefer to stick with that. But if the traffic is that bad it might be worth switching to the A&M hotel to just walk to the game on Saturday.

I do think yesterday was worse because of baseball, but it was WAY worse.

For Bama, if you are able to I would advise you to walk from The George. If you are driving, I think the most important thing to consider is which lot you plan on parking in. Every game until yesterday I parked in Lot 61 and haven't had any major issues getting in or out via Olsen blvd. It's been relatively smooth.
Yesterday I tried to take Penberthy to get to Lot 61 and avoid Wellborn traffic, but I was forced to park out by the tennis courts. This was a nightmare getting in AND out of.

Mark, arrive early for the game on Saturday and you won't have a problem parking in one of the lots next to Reed.

Mikesyracuse1

It's mostly the 6 pm games that are a total cluster&$@*. People arriving for the game while lots still full with normal student day parking. End of work day traffic along with game traffic. It is horrible. They need to figure out a better plan for 6 pm games next year.

I don't think Saturday at 11 am will be a huge issue. Just get there early.

Appreciate the advice folks. I was planning to arrive early and sounds like that should be enough

Yeah, mid-week 6pm games are a total CF with workday traffic + construction + people trying to get to the game; then add on the baseball game and its crazy.

It won't be nearly as bad for the Bama game simply because its a Saturday mid-morning, but if you need to park at Reed, I'd still make sure you are headed that way from town 45 min before tip at least. You'll have an easier time/less stress if you can park farther away and way.

Saturday games are fine. Plan to be at the arena by like10 but you'll have no problem parking.

Really the majority of the traffic issues on the midweek games stem from the fact that normal College Station rush hour traffic has exceeded the infrastructure of the area surrounding campus. On a normal school day there's tens of thousands of students and employees hopping into cars and onto George Bush, Texas, Wellborn, and University. None of the roads around Reed and West Campus are the size they need to be to accommodate it. Throw in a bunch of people trying to get to Reed for a basketball game and it becomes an absolute mess. Also didn't help last night that as I sat in traffic on Wellborn I counted 2 trains go through town between the hours of 5:00-6:00.

Now getting out of lot 100 after the game (assuming you park there), is always an absolute mess. I recommend parking anywhere else unless you have people in your group who struggle with walking long distances.

BaytownAg13 said:

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For Bama, if you are able to I would advise you to walk from The George.

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This is probably a 30 minute walk - seems like overkill.

Could be nice depending on the weather! But yes, probably overkill for a Saturday game.

BaytownAg13 said:

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Could be nice depending on the weather! But yes, probably overkill for a Saturday game.

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I suggest OP get there early and leave early to avoid traffic. Don't let Dr Rick know though!

The Collective said:

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BaytownAg13 said:

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For Bama, if you are able to I would advise you to walk from The George.

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This is probably a 30 minute walk - seems like overkill.

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Way underestimated. It's 10 min just to get to the street from the George if you're not speed walking.

Why not any of the parking garages? WCP, Conf. Ctr., or Koldus?

Yesterday was the worst of the year. We always park in Reed but yesterday we were diverted to the Blue Bell lot. Took us about double the usual time to get inside.

years ago I sent an email to Texas A&M Transportation Institute - Wikipedia

I asked what was the reasoning behind closing Wellborn after the games and forcing traffic west to 2818.

It's was overkill in trying to manage exiting traffic and why close a major exit from Kyle Field.

we were trying to get to my daughters dorm after the game, had to go to 2818 to the south at highway six and head back north on highway 6 to campus. It was ridiculous and took an hour and a half.

The guys from TTI wrote back and attached a 500 page document explaining the rationale.

FIVE HUNDRED PAGES.

Basketball is a similiar problem, but not to the magnitude of football.

and something similiar happens with diverting traffic.

Sometimes micro managing traffic can cause more problems.

How many parking spots are at Reed Arena?

The Collective said:

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BaytownAg13 said:

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For Bama, if you are able to I would advise you to walk from The George.

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This is probably a 30 minute walk - seems like overkill.

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Im way too lazy to even consider that walk.

I arrived on George Bush Ave coming in from the south at around 450p for a 6p tip and got into the Reed parking lot at about 515p. That sucked but there was plenty of parking as students were leaving the lot after class. I stayed for the very end and I sit near the bottom of the lower level so I expected to be caught in the horror show after the game but I was out of the parking lot in like 60 seconds.

Maybe I was just really lucky? Dunno.

But Saturday should be good without the student class parking taking up most of the lot.

Agree 100%. How does closing lanes of traffic help to handle additional load? Their micro managing makes things worse.

I believe there was a religious organization show at Reed that started at 9PM, after last night's game. To add to the misery of trying to exit the Reed parking lot, you also had students trying to enter the same lot for that program. Seems like really bad planning by the university.

75AG said:

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I believe there was a religious organization show at Reed that started at 9PM, after last night's game. To add to the misery of trying to exit the Reed parking lot, you also had students trying to enter the same lot for that program. Seems like really bad planning by the university.

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No offense, but its not a program or a show.

Its BREAKAWAY MINISTRIES and it's a worship service and I understand they can sometimes fill Reed Arena.

but thanks for the reminder. And I'm sure many students stayed in the area after the game to attend breakaway.

Breakaway is a phenomenal ministry that started with a few people meeting together regularly.

It was started by Gregg Matte (@GreggMHes atte) / Twitter

He's now the head pastor at Houston First Baptist.

No offense taken. It just seemed to be poor planning to host an event on the same night the arena would be packed to the rafters.

75AG said:

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No offense taken. It just seemed to be poor planning to host an event on the same night the arena would be packed to the rafters.

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they meet every Tuesday night and they also pack Reed Arena.

That's good to know.

txaggieacct85 said:

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75AG said:

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I believe there was a religious organization show at Reed that started at 9PM, after last night's game. To add to the misery of trying to exit the Reed parking lot, you also had students trying to enter the same lot for that program. Seems like really bad planning by the university.

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No offense, but its not a program or a show.

Its BREAKAWAY MINISTRIES and it's a worship service and I understand they can sometimes fill Reed Arena.

but thanks for the reminder. And I'm sure many students stayed in the area after the game to attend breakaway.

Breakaway is a phenomenal ministry that started with a few people meeting together regularly.

It was started by Gregg Matte (@GreggMHes atte) / Twitter

He's now the head pastor at Houston First Baptist.

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LOL

You can park for free in Lot 62 on Wellborn in front of Kyle Field for the Saturday games. Short walk to Reed through the Pickard Pass and you avoid most of the traffic. No TAMU permit required on weekends.

mikesyracuse1 said:

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Mark, arrive early for the game on Saturday and you won't have a problem parking in one of the lots next to Reed.

Mikesyracuse1

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Bull$. Arrive 1.5+ hours early. Parking is a freaking joke

txaggieacct85 said:

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How many parking spots are at Reed Arena?

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That aren't all ready full before game time due to 75k students using the lot?

Maybe 5

Agree. We were there at 415 and lucky to find a spot while others just circled. If this was a football game problem, it would have been solved before the start of the season

75AG said:

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Agree. We were there at 415 and lucky to find a spot while others just circled. If this was a football game problem, it would have been solved before the start of the season

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Exactly. I think game days they should clear the lot at 4 pm just like they do for football.

College students come to games when the ags are winning. Locals come to games if it's a fun atmosphere and the games are relatively easy on the family.

If we want reed packed for every game, this issue must be fixed.

jeremy said:

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If we want reed packed for every game, this issue must be fixed.

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And yet, it's existed for like 20 years and doesn't seem to impact attendance at all when we're good.

bobinator said:

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jeremy said:

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If we want reed packed for every game, this issue must be fixed.

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And yet, it's existed for like 20 years and doesn't seem to impact attendance at all when we're good.

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You dont think attendance sucks at times? Obviously, good teams make people overcome these issues and show up anyway. But if parking sucks, people will remember and skip out of non-conference games and low expectation games.

Btw, thanks for bringing the little one yesterday. We needed that W. Also, gonna need you to take him to Mississippi for a few days.

The attendance definitely sucks sometimes but I don't think the traffic impacts it.

Also the traffic is only really bad for games that:
a) are going to have big crowds, so basically only conference games when we're good
b) are at 6:00. Traffic isn't nearly as bad when the game is at 8 and it's nonexistent on the weekends
c) happen when school is in session

So in a given year, if we're good, it's only a giant cluster like 3-4 times at most. Maybe if we were consistently drawing huge crowds it would be worth fixing, but as it I'm sure it would be a bigger hassle to try and move all of those student vehicles on those days.

It would help if there was a place to grab a beer and watch games or something around the arena to encourage people to come early and hang out, right now everyone tries to arrive at the same time like 30 minutes before the game.

And you're welcome! The baby bobinator force is strong, someone might need to sponsor him for the Alabama game though.

75AG said:

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Agree. We were there at 415 and lucky to find a spot while others just circled. If this was a football game problem, it would have been solved before the start of the season

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You would've been better off arriving after 5 when students started to exit the Reed parking lot after their classes.

PJYoung said:

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75AG said:

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Agree. We were there at 415 and lucky to find a spot while others just circled. If this was a football game problem, it would have been solved before the start of the season

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You would've been better off arriving after 5 when students started to exit the Reed parking lot after their classes.

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you're probably right. didn't plan properly....

75AG said:

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PJYoung said:

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75AG said:

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Agree. We were there at 415 and lucky to find a spot while others just circled. If this was a football game problem, it would have been solved before the start of the season

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You would've been better off arriving after 5 when students started to exit the Reed parking lot after their classes.

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you're probably right. didn't plan properly....

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Yeah they were streaming out of the parking lot at around 5:10p

PJYoung said:

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75AG said:

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PJYoung said:

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75AG said:

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Agree. We were there at 415 and lucky to find a spot while others just circled. If this was a football game problem, it would have been solved before the start of the season

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You would've been better off arriving after 5 when students started to exit the Reed parking lot after their classes.

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you're probably right. didn't plan properly....

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Yeah they were streaming out of the parking lot at around 5:10p

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I don't know how that works. They had all the gates closed when I tried to enter and Reed arena parking lots. Did they open them back up after 5:00?

The whole thing is a cluster. And Bob you're wrong it's been way more than three or four games this year. And it's been worse this year than any time in the past 17 years I've been going to games. And I've been to nearly every one of them.