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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 06/13/2017 - GAME DAY OPERATIONS FOR THE COLORADO STATE UNIVERSDATE: STAFF: June 13, 2017 Martina Wilkinson, Civil Engineer Laurie Kadrich, Director of PDT WORK SESSION ITEM City Council SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION Game Day Operations for the Colorado State University (CSU) Stadium. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to update Council on the planned management of game days at the new CSU on- campus stadium. Information on game day campus activities, operational plans for all modes of travel, parking, and mitigation to protect nearby neighborhoods will be discussed. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED 1. What questions does Council have related to Game Day operations? 2. Does Council need any follow up information? BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Bottom Line In response to the new on-campus stadium an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between CSU and the City was created to guide responsibilities, improvements and planning for game day operations. Over the course of the past two years, a highly collaborative team of combined University and City staff have worked to implement the commitments within the IGA and operationalize game day planning. As the first events approach, focus areas are transportation to/from the game of all modes, parking, and neighborhood protection. It is important to note that refinements to the plans will occur throughout the season and beyond as assumptions become reality, and impacts are identified. The Stadium The construction of the stadium is nearing completion. The structure will be “substantially complete” in June, with finishing touches throughout July and August. The stadium is on time and on budget. Extensive community dialogue, outreach, open houses, communication and information to the CSU community, specific stakeholders, and the greater Fort Collins community have occurred. The resulting stadium, infrastructure improvements, and operational plans reflect that input. The first event will be a community open house on August 5th, followed by the first home football game on Saturday, August 26th. The Fortitude running race will occur on Labor Day with the 10k finish line in the stadium. Five additional home football games will take place in the fall of 2017. Infrastructure Improvements in Support of the New Stadium The IGA guided infrastructure improvements to support needs on game days, with a goal of identifying projects that will also have year-round benefits to CSU and the community. Extensive utility work has been completed on campus, more than 1,300 parking spaces built and sidewalk and bike lane improvements to fill in existing gaps in the multi-modal transportation system. June 13, 2017 Page 2 At the edges of campus, the University has funded and constructed more than $25 million of infrastructure improvements. This included two bike/pedestrian grade separated crossings of city arterials, other enhanced pedestrian crossings, and in partnership with the City improvements to the College and Prospect intersection. Game Day On Campus Colorado State University is providing programmed areas and an enhanced game day experience zone to strongly encourage game day attendees to enjoy pre-game activities on campus. This includes areas for tailgating, and programming such as Ram Town and Ag Day, etc. The University remains open for non-game related needs. Specialized parking areas with permits have been set aside for non-game related personnel. Access to all areas of campus will be maintained for emergency services. Game Day Operations - Getting to and From the Game The City and CSU have worked closely to develop game day transportation plans. The focus is on supporting a multi-modal approach for attendees using typical assumptions applied to the specific character of Fort Collins. It is important to note that as with any large special event, congestion is to be expected and delays in and around the campus will occur.  Vehicles Attendees driving to the game will able to park on the main campus with a pass (pre-purchased with a ticket) for a specific lot, or park on the south campus for cash payment. Some lots on the main campus which are normally student housing parking lots will be used for game day parking and students will need to move their vehicles to other designated spaces on campus the day before a game. The “re-park” program is not unusual for on-campus stadiums. All major arterials will be open before and after games. Shields and Laurel will see the heaviest volumes when compared to normal rush hour volumes. Turning restrictions will occur, especially along Shields (with no-left turns allowed into and out of neighboring local streets to improve efficiency on Shields and minimize game day cut through traffic in neighborhoods). Some roads will be limited in their use including Lake (bus, pedestrian, and local access only), Whitcomb north of Prospect (bus, bike and pedestrian only), Centre Avenue between Prospect and South Campus (bus, bike pedestrian and local access only), and Rolland Moore Drive east of Shields (bus and local access only). Several roadways on campus will be contra-flowed (all inbound before game and all outbound after a game) including Hughes Way, Pitkin Avenue close to Shields and Meridian Avenue. A strong physical perimeter in the immediate vicinity of the stadium will be in place to prevent errant vehicles from entering pedestrian heavy areas.  Bicycles and Pedestrians It is assumed that as many as 25% of game attendees will walk or bike to the stadium from off-campus. The operations plan encourages cyclists to utilize major bike routes in the area (including Remington and the new Pitkin Low Stress Bike Network) and access campus via the three grade-separated crossings (east, south, and west side), at enhanced crossings on Laurel, or at other signalized intersections. Extensive bike parking is available on campus, with supplemental parking (including bike valet) to be supplied on game days.  Transit In addition to existing normal Saturday service, Transfort will be operating enhanced MAX service, a shuttle route to the South Campus parking lots, a shuttle route to West Elizabeth, and a shuttle to serve an ADA- accessible lot on Lake Street. The service frequencies and the number of operators and vehicles are set to June 13, 2017 Page 3 accommodate as many as 5,000 game attendees. Service will begin 2 hours before the game, and the goal is to clear all attendees using transit within an hour after the game. Adjustments to the level of service may be made based on anticipated game attendance and other considerations. Costs for the enhanced service will be the responsibility of CSU per the Intergovernmental Agreement.  Other There are a number of additional transportation related details that City/CSU is finalizing. Among other things, this includes planning for major pedestrian flows on-campus between MAX and the stadium, locations for private shuttle drop off, and Uber / Lyft waiting areas. Protecting the Neighborhoods - Parking Staff has worked with neighborhoods within about one mile of the university campus to determine those that are interested in roadway parking restrictions for non-residents during major events. Six neighborhoods voted to participate in the program (Mantz, Old Fort Collins High, Sheeley, Western Heights, Lake Street, and Gigalad Way). The basics of the game day program is that only residents and up to two guest passes per home will be permitted to park on the street during football games or any events with an expected attendance of 12,000 or greater. All others will be ticketed. City Parking Services staff will be enforcing these restrictions and issuing $100 tickets for violations four hours prior to the start of an event until the end of the event. Pay for parking in existing private lots is not prohibited in City Code. Residential or commercial properties are allowed to accommodate game day parking and charge a fee for it. Zoning staff will track any complaints received during the first season and consider code changes if necessary. Parking on yards is covered under the City’s nuisance ordinance, but currently code allows a seven-day time frame for compliance. A code change would be necessary to enforce a one-day restriction. Zoning staff will track complaints during the first season and recommend code changes if necessary. Protecting the Neighborhoods - Noise, Parties and Tailgating The University is providing programmed areas and extensive events on campus to encourage game day attendees to tailgate on campus. Parties occurring on private property are legal, including business parking lots. There are no restrictions on alcohol on private property except for underage consumption. However, the City’s noise ordinance, nuisance gathering ordinance (including trash, urination, etc.), social host ordinance, public nuisance ordinance, trespassing and alcohol regulations are all applicable, including game days. (Noise from the stadium itself is exempt from the noise ordinance.) Open containers are not allowed in public places (including sidewalks and streets). Cutting through and/or walking/riding on private property is trespassing. Police services will be enforcing. The City and University staffs are working cooperatively to strongly encourage party registration through the City of Fort Collins. Significant outreach is occurring to highlight the benefits of registration to party hosts. Rambassadors (volunteers from throughout the community) will be utilized for additional community outreach and encouragement of stadium attendees to be good neighbors as they move through City neighborhoods. Monitoring of adjacent neighborhoods will occur after initial games to identify whether specific issues need to be addressed through targeted enforcement and/or future code changes. Game Day Staffing Staff from a variety of departments, agencies, and private parties will be utilized on game day. Police Services from both the City and CSU will be overseeing directing traffic in the roadways, Landmark and Traffic Masters (private firms) are contracted by CSU to support the event, event staff (‘yellow jackets’) will support crowd control at specific locations, Rambassadors will be available for outreach locations such as MAX stations, and numerous June 13, 2017 Page 4 volunteers will also be utilized. Additional City staff will include parking services, code compliance and traffic engineers in the operations center. Emergency Management Law enforcement agencies have worked cooperatively to plan for potential emergency needs. This includes events that may occur at the stadium (severe weather, evacuations, etc.) or at other locations on campus during a stadium event. Federal agencies including Homeland Security have been involved in scenario planning. An emergency operations center will be staffed during games. Stadium Advisory Group (SAG) Included in the IGA was a commitment to the formation of a Stadium Advisory Group (SAG). The City and CSU together support and participate in the effort, and have jointly appointed nine community members to serve on the group. The group has met 17 times since it was convened in October 2015. The role of the SAG is to examine actual impacts and community interactions as the new stadium begins use. The SAG will occasionally present recommendations to the City and/or CSU regarding stadium issues that impact local residents, business owners, etc. The SAG is heavily involved in the Good Neighbor Fund, which is funding from CSU (up to $37,500 annually) to support efforts to lessen any undesirable or unanticipated effects on neighborhoods from the stadium. The SAG has finalized a grant application process, established criteria for evaluating proposals and has evaluated its first proposals for review. The SAG makes recommendations to CSU on allocation and disbursement of the fund. CSU maintains a website for SAG that includes all meeting agendas, minutes, presentation documents and information about the Good Neighbor Fund: <http://source.colostate.edu/stadium-advisory-group/>. Ongoing and Upcoming Tasks There is continuing work occurring throughout the summer. This includes finalizing game day details, coordinating transit routes with traffic patterns, assigning specific staff to various locations, working with Athletics on parking passes, etc. Off-site wayfinding signs for the new stadium are in process of being implemented, and final upgrades to the traffic signal systems in the area are being installed. Both CSU and City staff are committed to continuing the strong partnership and collaboration for game day operations. Monitoring, evaluation, and refinement of plans will be on-going, especially throughout the first few games. There will also be opportunities for check-ins with the community and adjacent neighborhoods to continue to work towards minimizing impacts of game day activities. Conclusion A tremendous amount of work has been undertaken by both City and CSU staff in preparation for the first game at the new stadium. There will no doubt be things that work well, and things that will need to be refined throughout the first season. Staffs from both entities are committed to continuous improvement for the game day experience for attendees and neighbors alike. ATTACHMENTS 1. Powerpoint presentation (PDF) 1 CSU Stadium Game Day Operations June 13, 2017 ATTACHMENT 1 Questions for Council • What questions does Council have related to Game Day operations? • Does Council need any follow up information? 2 The Stadium 3 • On time, on budget • Substantial completion June 2017 Public Outreach 4 24 months of Public Outreach • Public open houses • Campus communication • Community presentations • Stakeholder efforts • Information to ticket holders • Stadium Advisory Group • Tours Infrastructure Improvements On Campus 5 • Extensive utility work • Pitkin parking garage (450 spaces) • South campus surface lot (900 spaces) • Sidewalks / bike lanes (both improvements and filling in gaps) Laurel Shields Prospect College Lake Laurel Shields Lake Prospect College Infrastructure Improvements Off Campus 6 The First Events 7 • 1st home game – Oregon State • August 5th open house • Home game – Abilene Christian • 10k Race Game Day Operations On Campus 8 • Tailgating • Programmed areas • Emergency services • Security • Access • Rest of university is still open Prospect College Student Vehicle Tailgating Laurel Shields Ram Town Student Programmed Tailgating Lagoon Concert Area Season Tailgate Parking Single Game Tailgating Game Day Programming Ag Day Alumni Tailgating Corporate Tailgating Game Day Operations Getting To and From the Game 9 Vehicles (8,500 cars), 22,000 Bikes/Peds, 10,000 Transit, 5,000 Walkers on campus, 2,600 40,000 Game Attendance • Basis of Design = Mode Split and # of Parking Spaces • Assumptions • Vehicles: 55% 22,000 people (2.6 people /veh = 8,500 cars) • Bike / Walk 25% 10,000 people • Transit 13% 5,000 • On-campus 7% 2,600 Game Day Operations Vehicles 10 Laurel Shields Prospect College Main Campus • 5,800 spaces • Student re-park • All pass parking • Controlled traffic flows • Contraflow lanes • Flexibility for dual lefts • Neighborhood street restrictions City Arterials • Shields/Laurel busy • Prospect open Game Day Operations Vehicles Drake 11 Shields Prospect College South Campus Parking • 2,700 spaces • Cash payment parking • Shuttle buses • Walking/biking along Center Avenue 12 Game Day Operations Bicycles and Pedestrians 12 Pitkin Low Stress Network Loomis West Elizabeth Pitkin Low Stress Network Spring Creek Trail Remington Greenway Mason Trail • Cyclists to use major bike routes • Campus access at grade separations, enhanced crossings and/or signals Game Day Operations Transit 13 Laurel Shields College Drake Transfort • Enhanced MAX service • South Campus shuttle • Campus West shuttle • ADA parking shuttle • Base transit service Uber and Private Shuttles Protecting the Neighborhoods Parking 14 Residential Parking • Outreach • Where not to park • RP3 zones • Up to 2 guest passes • $100 game day fine Private Parking • Driveways • Private lots Laurel Shields Prospect College Mantz Old Fort Collins High Sheeley Western Heights Lake St Gilgalad Wy Gameday Enforcement Areas 15 Applicable Ordinances • Noise • Nuisance gathering (trash etc.) • Social host • Public nuisance • Trespassing • Alcohol regulations Protecting the Neighborhoods Noise, Parties Etc. Encourage / Enforcement • Party registration process • Rambassadors • City of Fort Collins Police Services Stadium Advisory Group (SAG) 16 Commitment in IGA • Managed jointly by CSU / City • Nine jointly appointed community members • Purpose is to examine impacts / interactions of stadium / community • Review applications and recommends use of Good Neighbor Fund Example: Funding to support Rambassadors through Visit Fort Collins Ongoing Items 17 Ongoing Tasks • Stadium Wayfinding (off-site signage) • Finalize game day details, including staffing assignments Upcoming • Collaboration continues: monitor, evaluate and refine • Check-ins with neighborhood and community Questions for Council • What questions does Council have related to Game Day operations? • Does Council need any follow up information? 18