Aloha Stadium plans to employ additional parking cashiers, electronic billboards, police officers and some new traffic routes to expedite traffic around rail construction and the swap meet for the University of Hawaii’s football home opener Saturday.
Officials have said they project a crowd of about 25,000 for the 6 p.m. game with Tennessee Martin.
ALOHA STADIUM TRAFFIC GUIDE
(Incoming traffic and parking)
>> Entrance through Gate 1 (Main Salt Lake) ADA, Bus Lot and Sections 1-7 only (passes only). Use Kamehameha Highway or Salt Lake Blvd.
>> Entrance through Gate 2 (North Kamehameha) Parking Sections 8-14 only (passes only). Use Kamehameha Highway.
>> Public parking entrance through Gate 3 (Halawa) Upper and Lower Halawa parking lots only. Use Kahuapaani St. only. The public is encouraged to use Gate 3 where additional parking cashiers will be added to all lanes.
>> Public parking entrance through Gate 4 (Lower Salt Lake) Upper and Lower Halawa parking lots only. Use Kahuapaani St. only.
>> Entrance through Business Access Gate Upper Halawa Reserved (passes only); Use Salt Lake Blvd. or Kahuapaani St.
Source: Aloha Stadium
In addition, the stadium plans pregame and postgame events in the hope of spacing out traffic flow.
“We’re trying to find ways to make the drive in and out a lot better experience for our guests,” stadium manager Scott Chan said.
HART officials recently told the Stadium Authority, “The intention is to have (contractor) Kiewit completed with some of their work to where they can have one lane in the town-bound direction and two lanes in the westbound direction (on Kamehamenha Highway) open for game day.”
The stadium also is resuming swap meets on game-day Saturdays for the first time since 2009.
As part of the changes, which could last much of the football season, stadium officials said, “public parking for upper and lower Halawa parking lots will have access through Gates 3 & 4, opening at 1 p.m.”
It said, “Gate 3 is recommended for fans and will have additional parking attendants to allow for ease of entrance. All other lots (UH Reserved) will open at 2 p.m.”
Turnstile Gates 1-8 are scheduled to open to the public starting at 4:30 p.m., with the exception of Gate 7 opening at 3:30 p.m. for the new north plaza Fan Zone and Xtreme Fun Keiki Zone. In addition, there will be a modified Aloha Stadium Swap Meet & Marketplace from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in sections 8-14. Swap Meet entrance will be at Gate 2 only, closing at noon. Gate 2 will reopen to the public at 2 p.m. for the game.
According to the Aloha Stadium, there will be no public parking available on the inner circle, except for the limited number of ADA stalls. The ADA stalls will be open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis and parking attendants will be asking for ADA placards and ADA-issued identification cards. Customers who are unable to produce the placard and the ID card to match a person inside the vehicle will not be allowed to park in the ADA areas.
Alternate parking will be available at Radford High School, Kam Drive-In and Leeward Community College, with security present at each site, though no tailgating will be permitted at the alternate sites.
The Xtreme Fun Keiki Zone has been relocated to north plaza parking section 8a, with rides and activities running from 1 p.m. through the game kickoff.
The Keiki Zone will offer rides, an art wall, keiki ID kits, a beer garden and a merchandise shop.
