Road work means some traffic backups for Badger game

Bill Novak  —  8/27/2008 11:53 am

Football season is about to start at Camp Randall Stadium, so it must be time to roll out the road construction barrels.

This season, however, there shouldn't be as many headaches for football fans trying to get to the first game of the season this Saturday between the University of Wisconsin and Akron, as one arterial street heading into campus is now open and construction on another main conduit to the stadium should be finished weeks ahead of schedule.

Gorham Street, one of the main conduits into the UW campus from the east, reopened Tuesday afternoon a week ahead of schedule, said city traffic engineer Yang Tao.

Park Street is still under construction between Olin Avenue and the railroad tracks south of Plaenert Drive, but one lane is open in each direction, so fans taking the arterial to Camp Randall will experience delays funneling from the Beltline north to campus access streets.

The project was expected to last until Oct. 15, but Yang said the construction could wrap up in September.

"For games later in the season, Park Street should be good," he said.

UW has two home games the first two weeks of the season, this upcoming Saturday against Akron and then on Sept. 6 against Marshall, but doesn't return to the local gridiron until Oct. 4 for a night game against Ohio State.

One alternative to taking the Park Street exit off the Beltline? Take John Nolen Drive from the Beltline to Olin Avenue, then west on Olin to Park Street, since the construction zone is south of Olin. Motorists will be able to turn onto Park at that intersection with Olin and head to Camp Randall.

Or to avoid the congestion on Park, take the Verona Road/Midvale Boulevard exit off the Beltline and go north to Nakoma Road, which merges into Monroe Street, heading north into the stadium area.

Monroe Street was under construction all summer in the stretch that borders Camp Randall, but the finishing paint and marking work is being completed this week, so it should be good to go before tens of thousands of people descend onto the new pavement Saturday. Kickoff for the game is 11 a.m.

For the latest information on city traffic alerts due to construction, go to http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/engineering/TrafficAlerts/index.cfm.

Bill Novak  —  8/27/2008 11:53 am