Visitors should brace for weekend traffic zoo By Paula Lavigne Staff Reporter Football fans and State Fair visi tors in Lincoln this weekend may find their usual routes under construction, but local officials said they were ready to handle the challenge. Lincoln Police Capt. Jim Peschong said Lincoln parking problems and traffic congestion would be consider ably heavier because of Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. Comhusker season opener and the Nebraska State Fair, which starts today. Capt. Doug Ahlberg of the Lincoln police traffic safety unit said the two events had taken place on the same weekend for the past several years, but road construction this year would cause problems. Construction on the 10th Street viaduct has taken away one route to the events, he said. “Once you take away a major ar tery like 10th Street, with the bridge being tom up, it will not allow any northbound traffic into the west side," Ahlberg said. “They won’t have any where to go.” To avoid the traffic, Peschong ad vised travelers from western Nebras ka to exit Interstate 80 before the downtown Lincoln exits. Peschong encouraged travelers from northern and eastern Nebraska to use the Waverly exit to ease the traffic flow. State Fair visitors should enter the fairgrounds directly on 27th Street and State Fair Park Drive, he said. People attending both events, he said, can ride the shuttle bus between the fairgrounds and the stadium through out the day. Peschong said shuttle buses would alleviate some congestion and park ing problems around both events. Buses run from parking lots at South east Community College, 27th and Oupwtet »rcett,Holmc»L«ke«ndtfw ‘it’sgoing to be a lot more compli cated,” Ahlberg said. “During a foot ball game, Memorial Stadium is the third largest city in the state of Ne braska.” Mike Cacak, UNL transportation manager, said visitors should expect the usual parking complications. “You can only get so many people in a given space. When it’s full, it’s -44 It’s going to be a lot more complicated. During a football game, Memorial Stadium Is the third largest city In the state of Nebraska. —Ahlberg captain, Lincoln police traffic safety unit -tf - full,” Cacak said. “It’s not that big of a deal. It actually goes fairly smooth and we have very few complaints.” Cacak commended Lincoln’s ef forts to make things go smoothly for the weekend. “The city is doing a lot of things to alleviate the problem,” he said. ‘The big challenge will be the flow of traffic due to the construction.” Peschong said the traffic and park ing congestion would result from the expected 76,000 Comhusker fans try ing to get the parking spot closest to Memorial Stadium. “If people will take the time to look at the maps, read the paper and check the information offered to them, we can minimize the problem,” Peschong said. “If people feel ‘We’ve always parked here and this is where we are always going to park,’ then they be come frustrated and traffic becomes congested. “Some of the roads they want to take may not even exist anymore.” Peschong said visitors might want to take extra time before leaving Lin coln to avoid the rush. “People will not be able to get out of Lincoln within an hour like they usually do,” he said. “I’d encourage people to do some shopping," he said. “They shouldn’t be in lUGh ■ hurry to get to Omit emr»." The Lincoln police will double the usual number of officers this weekend to about 40 to combat the traffic con gestion and cramped parking. Even with these solutions, Peschong said, congestion will be a problem. But he said it was a problem that could be controlled. “We’ve developed traffic patterns to get people in and wit,” Peschong said. “I think we’re ready for it.” Office aids distant students Department offers access, options By Jan CaJinger Staff Raportar In a move to improve the way it communicates with students studying from afar, UNL’s Division of Con tinuing Studies Wednesday launched a new department. James Sherwood, associate direc tor of the new department of distance education, said the department would use University of Nebraska-Lincoln resources, including television, satel lite and mail, to educate students not living in Lincoln. Sherwood said the key words to describe distance education are ac cess and options. “We try to provide greater access to UNL,” he said. “The wav to do that is to provide more options for students who want to attend UNL. We extend resources to students who can't phys ically come to UNL.” Sherwood said the department would offer a wide variety of pro grams, ranging from high school classes to doctoral degrees. Robert Simerly, dean of continu ing education, said the department was an efficient merger between the academic telecommunication and in dependent study departments. “One of the main reasons (for the merger) is that the technology in the departments are rapidly moving to gether,” he said. “The purpose is to help extend the resources of the university to promote lifelong learning.” Last year, the old departments had 400 programs, serving 25,000 stu dents in 119 countries, Sherwood said. “If patterns hold true, I would hope,s over the next two years, that we'll serve 50 to 60,000 students,” he said. “We will certainly be in 115 coun tries." Monty McMahon, director of the new department, said the merger would make communication easier between the department and interest ed students. “Both former departments were involved in distance education," he said. ( f •*** «5h«Soi&tttm Nk«MwMCftxnr**rim'llm!*fcttwry w LCIW l*n» Hut. Ibl vm mth Iitwmi' •mkm ■