About picnicking, parking and partying
With this weekend's opening of Aggie Stadium for football comes an important message from UC Davis administrators about picnicking and other festivities around the new venue.
The university also is advising people of the best ways to get to the stadium by car and where to park, and alerting drivers that La Rue Road in front of the stadium will be closed to vehicle traffic (buses excepted) on game days.
If you are bicycling, you are welcome to free valet parking. Transportation and Parking Services, or TAPS, will secure your bike on the west side of the stadium during the game.
The university has designated two large parking lots for picnicking, including propane-fueled barbecues - the first time that picnicking and barbecues have been allowed in UC Davis parking lots.
Also, officials have designated one area outside the stadium - the Aggie Pride Zone, near Lot 56 - where beer and wine can be sold and consumed. Alcoholic beverages anywhere else around the stadium are prohibited, even in the parking lots designated for picnicking.
Alcoholic beverages also are banned inside the stadium, except in the Bruce Edwards Club Room, which is reserved for select groups of donors and university guests.
Picnicking zones
Picnicking is allowed in Lot 30, behind the Recreation Pool and Lot 56, south of the stadium and west of the Schaal Aquatics Center.
Campus officials said Lot 30 is open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis, while Lot 56 is reserved for game personnel and Team Aggie members - donors to the university's athletics program. Recreational vehicles are allowed in Lot 30 only.
The parking fee is $6, or free for people with parking permits; people with RVs must pay $6 for each occupied space. Besides propane BBQs, the university also allows tables, chairs, coolers, tents, music and televisions, as well as flags and banners.
To reach Lot 30 from the freeway, take Interstate 80 to Highway 113 north, then take the Hutchison Drive exit east (the first exit off 113). Lot 30 is off Extension Center Drive, which cuts off Hutchison Drive just west of La Rue Road. Access to Lot 56 is via Health Sciences Drive off Hutchison from the north, and via Garrod Drive off La Rue from the south.
Game parking is not limited to lots 30 and 56, but those are the only places where picnicking and BBQs are allowed.
The $6 fee applies to all stadium-area parking lots, including the west entry garage off Hutchison Drive just east of La Rue Road.
To drop people off at the stadium, go to Lot 56, adjacent to the southwest gate. Lot 56 also is the designated parking lot for disabled people.
More stadium info
Pregame festivities
For the season-opening game against Western Washington University on Sept. 1, all parking lots are scheduled to open at 9 a.m., three hours before kickoff. Once you arrive at the stadium, and if you are not picnicking, you have a couple of options for pregame festivities starting at 9:30 a.m.:
• Gunrock's Gridiron Festival - Hutchison Drive and La Rue Road, at the stadium's northeast corner. The festival before each game is sponsored by UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics in coordination with Aggie Pack and other student groups. Anyone in the community is invited in, free of charge. Children's activities include bounce houses and face painting, and the large grass area is perfect for tossing footballs around. Food and nonalcoholic beverages are available for sale, and large tents are set up over tables and chairs. The Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! and the Aggie spirit squad provide entertainment.
• Aggie Pride Zone - This is a grassy area just outside the stadium's southwest gate, near parking Lot 56. The Aggie Pride Zone is for Team Aggie members and the general public, and admission is free. The area is officially called the Streng, Taormino and Warren Grove, named after three families that donated to the stadium project; the "grove" part of the name envisions the growth of recently planted trees.
A temporary, low-profile, white picket fence surrounds the area on game days, and food and beverages, including beer and wine, are available for purchase inside. Entertainment includes live or recorded music, as well as the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh and the Aggie spirit squad.
• Alumni Grove - The name is not yet official for this gathering area amid mature pine trees at Hutchison and Health Sciences drives, across the street from the stadium’s west gate. The Cal Aggie Alumni Association does not plan to organize any activities at the grove until the Oct. 13 game (stadium dedication day) or the Oct. 27 game (homecoming).
Beer and wine sales
The university has issued a permit for beer and wine sales in the Aggie Pride Zone, and is considering a similar permit for the Alumni Grove. The organizers must distribute wrist bracelets to identify people who are 21 or older, and thus allowed to buy alcoholic beverages. Also, no one will be permitted to leave either area with beer or wine, and sales must conclude 15 minutes prior to kickoff.
UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza and Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka, in "an important message to Aggie fans," reminded people about the rules and regulations for alcohol consumption, and asked for cooperation.
"As a friendly reminder, all Aggie Stadium spectators must be cognizant that the University of California, Davis, is obligated to support the laws of the state of California," Spicuzza and Warzecka wrote in their open letter to Aggie fans. "UC Davis police officers are responsible for responding to and correcting problems in the parking lots and other venues associated with the display of open alcoholic beverage containers and-or the consumption of alcoholic beverages."
Spicuzza and Warzecka continued: "While we want you to enjoy your day at the stadium and the social activities that surround it, we are asking you to do so responsibly and in compliance with UC Davis policy and associated laws."
Driving and parking
About 5,000 parking spaces are situated within a 10-minute walk of Aggie Stadium. For people who are not picnicking in lots 30 and 56, campus authorities advise taking these routes to the west parking garage or lots 40, 41, 47, 47A, 53 and 57:
FROM INTERSTATE 80 - Take the UC Davis exit and follow Old Davis Road to California Avenue, just past the visitors kiosk. Turn left onto California, which takes you across the arboretum waterway. As you come off the bridge, turn left onto La Rue Road. You can then park in Lots 47 or 47A adjacent to the Tercero student housing complex, between Bioletti Way and Dairy Road. If those lots are full, traffic will be diverted north on Dairy Road to Lots 40 and 41.
FROM HIGHWAY 113 - Exit at Hutchison Drive and go east toward the main campus, following signs to the west entry garage just east of La Rue Road. Or, turn right from Hutchison onto Health Sciences Drive, then make a quick right onto West Health Sciences Drive and follow it to Lots 53 and 57.
FROM SOUTHBOUND LA RUE ROAD - Follow the signs to stadium parking in the west entry garage.