State to enforce parking ban on 2 roads near ASU stadium
A traffic mishap involving a pedestrian on Oct. 18 near Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro has led to new parking restrictions for Arkansas State University football fans.
Parking along Red Wolf Boulevard and East Johnson Avenue, which intersect near the university’s football stadium, will be banned under an agreement between the university, the city and the Arkansas Department of Transportation, the department announced Thursday.
Red Wolf Boulevard and East Johnson Avenue fall under state jurisdiction because the city thoroughfares also are state-controlled highways — U.S. 49 and Arkansas 91, respectively. Arkansas Code Annotated 27-63-304 bans parking on state-owned rights of way.
Details on the Oct. 18 incident weren’t immediately available Thursday afternoon. The incident happened the same day the ASU Red Wolves defeated the Georgia State University Panthers, 5135.
“Parking typically becomes a visible problem on ASU game days when attendees park along the highways for easier access to Centennial Bank Stadium,” the department said in a news release.
As a result, the university, the city and the Transportation Department agreed to place “No Parking” signs along sections of both highways in the vicinity of the stadium.
“It’s always been a no-parking area,” said Danny Straessle, the Transportation Department spokesman. “It’s just not been enforced.”
The signs will start going up, weather permitting, on Monday on U.S. 49 between the railroad overpass just south of the campus north to near Arkansas 358, which is northeast of the campus, and on Arkansas 92 from U.S. 49 to near Caraway Road, the department said. The work is expected to be completed Wednesday.
The next home date for the Red Wolves is their homecoming game Nov. 3 against the University of South Alabama Jaguars.
The new signs will be supported with stepped-up enforcement, Straessle said.
“It’s going to be enforced by local law enforcement with the assistance of the Arkansas State Police and the Arkansas Highway Police,” which is a division of the Transportation Department, he said.