NEWS

Early arrival, shuttle use advised for commencement Sunday (May 18)

CHAPEL HILL -- Chapel Hill residents may wish to plan local travel carefully on Sunday (May 19) because of extra traffic and road closings for commencement at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 9:30 a.m. ceremony in Kenan Stadium is expected to slow most routes into town until 9:45 a.m., starting perhaps as early as 8 a.m. Outbound traffic can be heavy after the ceremony, from about 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., said Deborah Hawkins of the UNC Public Safety Department. More than 30,000 are expected to attend or participate in commencement.

The following road closings are planned:

• Ridge Road: Closed to through traffic from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., access restricted to those with UNC parking permits for Stadium Drive and Ehringhaus Field.
  
  
• Stadium Drive: Closed to through traffic with access only for Stadium Drive permits from 7:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
  
  
• Cameron Avenue: Closed to through traffic between Raleigh and Columbia streets from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with access only for Cameron-area permits and disabled patrons with disability permits or generic disability hangtags/placards.

"South Road becomes extremely congested as early as 8 a.m.," said Hawkins, referring to a main road through campus just north of the stadium, past the Morehead Patterson Bell Tower. So does the north side of campus, she said, and parking lots there fill early.

"Students and guests should keep this in mind and use alternate roadways to campus as much as possible, or use the park-and-ride lots off-campus," she said. "After 8 a.m., campus is best accessed via Pittsboro Street to Manning Drive or Mason Farm Road, from U.S. 15-501 to Columbia Street and Manning or via U.S. 15-501 directly onto Manning."

For more information about parking and shuttles for the free public ceremony, visit www.unc.edu/commencement or http://www.dps.unc.edu/dps/breakingnews/commencement2003.htm.

Shuttles will take guests to the stadium from 7:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. from the University Mall lot beside Dillard’s, the park-and-ride lot near the Friday Center off N.C. 54, the Ambulatory Care Center

lot off Mason Farm Road, the Cardinal Deck at Manning and West drives, the Dogwood Deck at Manning and East drives, and the following sites off Manning: Craig Deck, Ehringhaus and Hinton James residence halls, Bowles Drive.

If the ceremony is moved to the Dean E. Smith Center because of severe weather, shuttles will service that location instead of Kenan. The Bowles lot and business school deck will be closed to employees, but employees will be able to park for free in the Dogwood Deck by showing their identification or parking permits.

Shuttles will return guests to those locations from 11 a.m. until noon, and to some lots until 1 p.m. Guests also may return to their cars from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on shuttles leaving the Old Well on Cameron Avenue and Carmichael Auditorium off South Road. These stops are convenient to the reception for graduates and their guests on Polk Place after the ceremony.

"Advance planning and early arrival times will make the experience more pleasant for everyone," Hawkins said.

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Contact: L.J. Toler, UNC News Services, 962-8589