MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Law enforcement agencies have begun coordinating efforts to handle what is expected to be a large number of visitors in the Morgantown area over the weekend.
In addition to the hosting rounds one and two of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, the Morgantown area will also welcome several other high-profile events.
West Virginia University Police Department officials believe basketball fans will number in the 10,000 range and the collection of other events could match that total. WVU PD Lieutenant Jeff Wright confirmed that members of the West Virginia State Police, the Morgantown Police Department and the Star City Police Department will take part in efforts to guide traffic in and out of the Hope Coliseum.
“We expect to have approximately 40 officers on duty during the NCAA tournament just to cover shifts,” said Wright. “We also have a baseball game going on on Saturday, so we also have multiple units from the state police, Morgantown Police Department, and Star City Police assisting with these events.”
More than 40 WVU police officers will provide security inside, and traffic control outside Hope Coliseum. The traffic patterns will be much like those used for a regular season WVU home game. Fans will be guided in and out of the main entrance on Monongahela Boulevard on Patteson Drive, with each intersection guarded by either state troopers or Morgantown and Star City police officers.
“At the Coliseum, attendees can enter through the main intersection at Mon Boulevard and Patteson Drive, the Gold Lot entrance off of Mon Boulevard and the White Lot entrance off of Mon Boulevard near the Creative Arts Center,” said Wright. “There will also be electronic signs directing traffic to those entrances.”
Basketball fans should use Exits 1 and 7 off Interstate 68 to get to the Hope Coliseum. This will help traffic avoid motorists heading to several events at Mylan Park over the weekend and a WVU Baseball series with BYU at the Kendrick Family Ball Park. Up to 10,000 more fans will use Exit 155 off Interstate 79 to attend the Mylan Park and other events. Mylan Park will host a WVU track meet, the Pennsylvania YMCA State Meet and an family event called Jurassic Quest.
“There are multiple events happening at Milan Park this weekend also, that’s a big reason why we’re encouraging attendees for the NCAA games to use exits one and seven off of I-68,” said Wright.
The efforts to prepare for the possibility of the NCAA tournament event took place over the course of the past month. This not only includes the formalization of duties for officers with WVU PD for the weekend but also coordination with Mon EMS and the Morgantown Fire Department for emergency services, as well as the law enforcement agencies that will be participating in traffic duties throughout the weekend.
“Closer to the Hope Coliseum, there will definitely be some traffic back up,” said Wright. “So we do have multiple agencies working those key intersections leading up to the Coliseum to hopefully help with as much congestion as possible.”