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LSU students split on thoughts on recent changes to LSU game day
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BATON ROUGE -- Saturday night's showdown in Death Valley between LSU and Texas A&M is one of the biggest home games of the year. It will also be the first since significant changes to security, parking, and traffic made by LSU and local law enforcement to the gameday experience.
The changes with parking and traffic redirection will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. With that, WBRZ spoke with LSU students to hear their thoughts on these changes.
"I do feel like there are changes or alterations that need to be made as far as on game day traffic and just managing the people. Do I think the extent to which they've gone is just? Not completely," LSU student Jordan Price said.
Some of the more significant changes will occur along Highland Road. At the intersection of Highland and W. Roosevelt Street, starting at 2:30 p.m., only people with on-campus parking passes will be allowed to continue on Highland. People without a pass will be redirected down West Roosevelt toward River Road.
At the intersection of Highland and W. Parker Blvd, non-parking pass holders will be redirected down W. Parker toward Burbank Drive, or they can turn onto Gourrier Avenue, where there will be areas with free parking along it.
"The contraflow is a little excessive in my opinion. The closure of Unity Field is excessive as well. I don't know why they are closing it down and keeping Parade Grounds open. I don't think it's justified or fair," Matthew Akinola.
One issue students who spoke to WBRZ had was with the decision to close down Unity Field, which is at the corner of S. Stadium Drive and Highland Road. On Wednesday, part of the field was flooded. LSU said this was because of a sinkhole repair, diverting water onto the field.
"I think that the issues that are being caused are not by LSU students, so maybe the parking pass thing, or you can only get here if you have an LSU parking pass, like that could work, but closing the whole field, that's not really going to do anything," LSU student Elijah Pierce said.
MacPharran Manogin, who lives off-campus, says he thinks these changes should've been made either before the season or before next season.
"I mean, I don't really agree with the changes anyway because we have like shootings all the time and we have fights and stuff break out in other places, but none of the changes happen over there," Manogin said.
Manogin also told WBRZ a story that he had with game day traffic during the 2024 homecoming game when coming home from New Orleans.
"I was coming back to Baton Rouge, and the traffic was so bad because they blocked off River Road, and I pretty much couldn't get home. I talked to one of the officers. I was like, 'Hey, I'm trying to get to Tigerland,' and he's like, 'No, we're not letting anybody through and I'm like, 'But I live here, look at my driver's license.' He's like, 'No, I can't let anybody through.' Anyway, I ended up sleeping in a parking lot till like three in the morning," Manogin said.
LSU announced that Unity Field would be fenced off for the remainder of the season. WBRZ asked when that will take place, but has not received an answer back.
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