Outside the Stadium: Your Wyoming-Nebraska Gameday Guide

The City of Laramie is expected to at least double in size on Saturday for the Wyoming-Nebraska football game. The University of Wyoming has increased seating inside the sold out War Memorial Stadium and will keep Tailgate Park open during the game with the action showing on a big screen for the three-to-five thousand fans anticipated to arrive in Laramie without tickets.

The masses descending on Laramie means some typical gameday routines for Wyoming fans will end up with a slightly different rhythm. So here is a lot of information that will hopefully help you find a great gameday groove before and after you cheer on the Pokes.

Key Virtue
UW Athletic Director Tom Burman says the first thing fans will need is a little patience, "We've got a venue that generally seats 29,000 and we rarely put 29,000 in it and we're going to seat 32,000 and some change Saturday. So lines are going to be long, restrooms are going to be packed, parking's going to be a challenge, but this is a once in a lifetime event for many of these people and hopefully they'll understand that there's a lot that goes into it and we're doing everything within our power to make it work."

The best way to stay patient is to be early every where you go Saturday. It will take longer than ten minutes to drive across town, more than five minutes to get to a bathroom, at least fifteen minutes to get into the stadium and should I even mention how long it will take for everyone to leave after the game? You just need to expect everything to take longer than usual.

Traffic
Local authorities will have extra units on patrol to try to control traffic, with extra focus on keeping Grand Avenue flowing. Commander Mitch Cushman of the Laramie Police Department warns that some left hand turns will be blocked off on Grand as early as 2 o'clock.

You'll also just need to be on the lookout for pedestrians. Plenty of people will be walking a good distance to the stadium, so be prepared to look twice for any one crossing the street.

As far as getting out of town after the game, Cushman's best recommendation for getting onto Interstate 80 is to head north from the stadium up to Reynolds Street and go east to the Curtis Street Ramp as there will be significant delays all around Grand Avenue.

Parking

Click to Enlarge (Wyoming Athletics Media Relations)

All parking lots, both permitted and free lots, will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, but open containers are not allowed until noon. Permitted parking lots in which the access will continue to require the same parking permits as in past years are the: AA Lot (east of the Arena-Auditorium); D Lot (south of War Memorial Fieldhouse); FA Lot (west of War Memorial Fieldhouse); H Lot (south of the American Heritage Center); IPF Lot (north of the Indoor Practice Facility); S Lot (west of the UW Law School); and X Lot (one block north of the Arena-Auditorium on 19th Street by the Animal Science Building). Check out the parking lot layout to the right see all of the Brown Lots and any other changes.

Free Parking
Free parking for UW fans will be available within four blocks of War Memorial Stadium and the Arena-Auditorium. The free parking will be located at: the Aragon Lot, two blocks north of War Memorial Stadium on the east side of 22nd Street (north of the Aragon Softball Complex); the UW Annex Lot, two blocks south of War Memorial Stadium on 21st Street (formerly the Mountain West Farm Bureau Building); and the Long-Term Parking Lot, four blocks east of War Memorial Stadium (east of the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex and on the west side of 30th Street).

There is free street parking around Laramie, you just need to be sure you do not park on private property or block any driveways.

Shuttle Bus Services

A shuttle-bus route open to all fans will pick up fans at the intersection of 22nd Street and Willett Drive (on the northwest corner of War Memorial Stadium), beginning three hours prior to each home football game. It will also pick fans up at the Brown Lot and drop all of those fans off at the southwest corner of War Memorial Stadium near Pepsi Tailgate Park. This shuttle will not run postgame.

There is a shuttle bus service that will run from the Cowboy Field Lot designated specifically for ADA parking patrons and will drop fans off at Gate 8 on the northwest corner of War Memorial Stadium pregame. This shuttle will start two (2) hours prior to each home game. Postgame this ADA Shuttle will pick fans up at Gate 8 and return them to the Cowboy Field Lot.

All Shuttle Bus Services are provided free as a courtesy by UW Athletics. There is a new Laramie bus service, the Gem City Grand, that runs from downtown and offers fans another option for transportation to the game. The closest drop of is at the UW Plaza, right across 22nd Street, from War Memorial Stadium. For more information, click here.

Times to Remember

- 8 a.m.: All Parking Lots Open (Both Permitted and Free Lots)

- 8 a.m.: Will Call Opens at both: Main Ticket Office in Arena-Auditorium and at Wildcatter East Side Ticket Office

- Noon: Alcohol Permissible-Open Container Permit Begins for Designated Parking Lots, including: Ford Stadium Lot, Summit View Lot, AA Lot, Brown Lot, Cowboy Field Lot, H Lot, IPF Lot and X Lot.

- 1:30 p.m.: South Fieldhouse Will Call Opens

- 2 p.m.: Pepsi Tailgate Park Opens and will remain open throughout the game. It will include a 9-foot x 12-foot Video Screen that will show the Wyoming-Nebraska game live

- 2:30 p.m.: Pokes Pre-Game Show on KOWB with Kari Eakins at the Brown 'N Gold (with 10 tickets to give away) on 21st and Grand and Wesley Kempton in Tailgate Park with the Laramie GM truck.

- 3:05 p.m.: Cowboy Walk, Fans are encouraged to cheer on the Cowboys as they walk from the Hilton Garden Inn, east of War Memorial Stadium, to the southeast corner of the Stadium on their way to the Cowboy locker room

- 3:30 p.m.: All Gates Open to War Memorial Stadium

- 5:30 p.m.: Kickoff of Wyoming vs. Nebraska

- Halftime: Alcohol Permissible-Open Container Permit Period Ends

Weather
The Weather Channel has forecast a partly cloudy day with a high of 75 degrees. There will be northwest winds up to 10 mph and only a 10 percent chance of rain. Sunrise at 6:51 a.m. and sunset at 6:56 p.m. Here's a temperature time table for the day:

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