News Release

CHAPEL HILL — With spring commencement coming up Sunday morning (May 15) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, local residents and those attending the ceremony will benefit from careful transportation planning.

More than 30,000 people are expected to attend or participate in the 9:30 a.m. ceremony in Kenan Stadium. Most roads into Chapel Hill will be congested from about 8 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Outbound traffic can be heavy from about 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., said Deborah Hawkins of the UNC Public Safety Department.

Four roads will close to through traffic during the following hours:

· Ridge Road and Stadium Drive, 6:15 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

· South Road from Raleigh Street to Country Club Road, approximately 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

· Cameron Avenue 10:30 a.m.- 3 p.m., Raleigh Street to Columbia Street; disability permits allowed.

Hawkins advised motorists to avoid north campus, where most lots will be reserved and traffic can be "bumper-to-bumper" from 8 a.m. on. After 8 a.m., campus is accessed best from the U.S. 15-501 Bypass south of town. Take the Chapel Hill-Pittsboro exit and turn according to signs to UNC. Go north toward town and turn right onto Mason Farm Road or Manning Drive.

"Motorists are urged to avoid the Raleigh Road corridor due to its extremely heavy congestion history," Hawkins said.

Graduates and guests are urged to use free park-and-ride lots and take shuttle buses to and from campus. Shuttles will begin operating at 7:15 a.m. and run continuously until the start of the ceremony. Return trips will begin around 11 a.m. and continue until the stadium is cleared.

The lots are beside Dillard’s at University Mall on Estes Drive and on Friday Center Drive off N.C. 54 East, on the right just before the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Shuttles will take guests from these lots to Gate 2 on the north side of Kenan and pick them up at Gate 2 for return service.

Use of those shuttles is preferred, but shuttles also will run on the same schedule from the following south campus lots: those on Bowles Drive near the Dean E. Smith Center; the Ambulatory Care Center lot off Mason Farm Road; and the Cardinal and Dogwood decks across from UNC Hospitals on Manning. These shuttles will serve Gate 5 on the south side of Kenan.

Parking will be free in the Dogwood Deck from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. After 3 p.m., regular charges will apply. The Cardinal Deck will offer free parking all day and evening, Hawkins said.

Guests attending additional ceremonies later may catch shuttles back to all lots from the Old Well on Cameron Avenue, the Student Recreation Center on South Road and the Smith Center from 1-5:30 p.m.

If the 9:30 a.m. ceremony is moved to the Smith Center because of severe weather, shuttles will serve the center instead of Kenan. Afternoon shuttles still will run from the Student Recreation Center, the Smith Center and the Old Well.

Commencement parking information is available at 919-962-3951 and on UNC’s commencement Web site (www.unc.edu/commencement). Guests with special needs who have questions may contact UNC Disabilities Services at 919-962-8300 or disabilityservices@unc.edu through 5 p.m. Friday (May 13).

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Commencement parking contact: Deborah Hawkins, 919-962-5026

News Services contacts: Print, Lisa Katz, 919-962-2093; broadcast, Karen Moon, 919-962-8595; News Services staff member on call, pager 919-216-2584