[300] TSSAA Tournaments Mean Parking, Traffic Changes at MTSU

TSSAA tournaments mean parking, traffic changes at MTSU

FOR RELEASE: March 2, 2012
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385 or gina.fann@mtsu.edu

MURFREESBORO— If it’s March in Tennessee, that means it’s TSSAA time at MTSU—and time for temporary traffic changes, too!

The upcoming TSSAA High School Basketball Tournaments—March 7-10 for the girls and March 14-17 for boys—will cause changes in parking and traffic patterns on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, which is again hosting the events.

To help the campus community and its guests navigate the crowded and changing MTSU landscape, University officials are making motorists aware of several factors affecting roads and parking.

Once again, the Greenland Drive parking lot will be reserved for TSSAA ticketholders during both tournaments, and vehicles must pay $5 to park there. Students and faculty who use the Greenland Drive lot should prepare now to find alternative parking on campus.

Team buses again will be parking on the east side of Middle Tennessee Boulevard in what is usually the right northbound lane. Traffic heading north on Middle Tennessee Boulevard will be reduced to a single lane alongside MTSU property during the tournaments. The Faulkinberry Drive entrance from MT Boulevard will be closed March 7-10 and March 14-17 and also will be closed at Normal Way.

MTSU’s East Main Street and Rutherford Boulevard entrance will be the most convenient campus entry points during the tournaments, officials said.

University officials are reminding visitors as well as the campus community of various construction projects under way around MTSU, which could potentially cause or create traffic delays. Motorists should allow extra time to reach their campus destinations and make use of the University’s perimeter parking lots and the Raider Xpress shuttle.

A new traffic change this year is the closure of the Champions Way entrance from Greenland Drive March 14-16. All eastbound traffic on Greenland Drive will be directed to Rutherford Boulevard to park in both the large gravel and paved lots. Campus traffic will be allowed to exit campus via Champion Way to Greenland Drive, however.

The Raider Xpress shuttle service will run its normal schedule during the TSSAA tournaments, with the exception of the "Green Route,” which will not serve Greenland Drive.

Instead, the shuttle will serve the lots along Crestland Drive as normal, then re-enter campus behind the James Union Building and make its way around Old Main Circle by Peck Hall and Kirksey Old Main. The route then will take a right on Faulkinberry and head out of campus via Champions Way back to Greenland Drive.

All other events scheduled on campus during the tournaments will be allowed first-come, first-served parking in any of the University’s free lots, based on availability.

The University will be on spring break for the first tournament, which should help ease traffic and parking concerns. Classes will be back in session for the second tournament.

For a printable campus map showing parking lots and travel routes at MTSU, visit www.mtsu.edu/parking/Map_2011-2012.pdf. For more information about the TSSAA state tournaments, visit www.tssaa.org or call 615-889-6740.

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