People from all over the state will pour into Tuscaloosa for the spring A-Day game on Saturday, and as they fill Tuscaloosa, city and UA officials say they will be prepared to handle the large crowd.
“We have opened up the new intermodal parking area downtown, which has a number of parking spaces, and we are going to have shuttles running for the first time,” said City Clerk Tracy Croom.
She said the shuttle service from the facility will be $1 both ways for adults and 50 cents for children.
The Tuscaloosa Transit Authority will provide transportation to the stadium and back, so there will not be the issue of where to park on campus and then walking to the stadium. The agency will have nine buses running on A-Day.
“This is the first time we have down this, and it will be a good investment for the city,” she said.
“We will be running the shuttles on a trial basis and the city also has a lot of free parking lots for people to utilize as well,” she said. “In the current economic downturn, this is a great event to help stimulate the economy.”
Anytime a large number of people come into town, there are issues and concerns of parking, security and transportation.
“We will have adequate police security during all times of the day,” Croom said.
According to Chief Steven Anderson, the Tuscaloosa Police Department will be staffing the A-Day game as if it were a regular football game. Anderson said there are no concerns about the large crowd coming in, but they plan to have enough officers on hand to handle any situation.
Admission will again be free to the public with the kickoff set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. Gates will open at 11 a.m., with a Legends flag football game will take place at noon.
“In 2007, the stadium was filled to capacity, and for the past two years, it was near capacity,” said athletics spokesman Doug Walker.
He said because this is a free event, the University always plans for a full stadium.
UA has prepared some street closings and has some suggested Game Day routes for students and people entering the campus for the game listed on uagameday.com.
