With the 2013 football season approaching, Iowa Now would like to remind fans about important policies and procedures, parking and traffic updates, safety guidelines, and information regarding access to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Saturday's game promises to be a hot one, with temperatures forecast to reach nearly 100 degrees. Fans are encouraged to stay cool and well hydrated before, during, and after the game. To help with that, fans will be allowed to bring into the stadium on Saturday as many clear, unopened bottles of water as they would like.

Vendors will be selling bottled water for $2 at the stadium, half the usual price, and water bottles can be refilled at the stadium’s water fountains. Cooling stations can be found in each of the four corners of the stadium, which include shaded areas and misting showers.

Fans are strongly encouraged to begin hydrating several days before game day and on game day to tailgate responsibly.

Additional medical staff will be available on site should fans require emergency or other health-related assistance.

Saturday is also a “Be Bold, Wear Gold” game day, and fans are encouraged to wear loose-fitted clothing of a light color (gold, yellow and/or white), as well as to slather on lots of sunscreen.

Travel alerts and tips

Express lanes will be used again at Kinnick Stadium for fans who bring nothing to the games but their tickets. The express lanes will be located at Gates C, G, I, J, and M. Fans are reminded that on the east side of the stadium, only Gates K and J (express lane only) will be open. All entrance gates will open 90 minutes before kickoff.

If you're traveling to the game from outside of Iowa City, allow extra time for construction on Interstate 80 near exit 244 (Dubuque Street exit). Visitors coming from the east should consider using exit 246 to Dodge Street. The off-ramps and both on-ramps to I-80 are open, but lanes are reduced on the eastbound off-ramp and on North Dubuque Street, creating possible delays.

Fans traveling to Iowa City from northeast Iowa should expect delays at the intersection of Highways 30 and 1 in Mount Vernon. A large roundabout is being constructed, and there’s a detour redirecting traffic around the work.

Fans are reminded that construction is ongoing near the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Sidewalks may be closed surrounding the hospital, so allow for extra time when approaching the stadium. With the closing of Hospital Ramp 2, ADA football parking will be available in Hospital Ramp 3. Entrance to the ramp is off of Hawkins Drive.

Fans should note the fees for UI-owned parking lots: cars, $20; RVs, $50; and buses, $100. Other parking alternatives are available both on campus and around Iowa City. For example, public parking on football game day is permitted at the Iowa Memorial Union Parking Ramp and the North Campus Parking Ramp and at the Main Library Lot for an hourly rate.

Likewise, Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville offers free parking and close proximity to the Hawkeye Express Train Depot, which is near the IHOP restaurant. The train begins transporting fans three hours before game time if the game starts at 11 a.m. and four hours before game if the game time is 2:30 p.m. or later. The train resumes at the end of the third quarter until 90 minutes after the game ends. Round-trip tickets are $12 and children age 12 and under ride free.

Tailgating and fan behavior

Fans who arrive on campus on the night prior to the game and park overnight in UI lots are reminded that consumption of beer and wine is not allowed in those areas until 7 a.m. on game day. Iowa City's open container law will be enforced prior to that time.

In an effort to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere in Kinnick Stadium, warning cards will be issued to fans that engage in inappropriate behavior. Extremely bad behavior may result in removal from the stadium, arrest, and loss of ticket privileges.

The following items are banned inside Kinnick Stadium: bags of any size, alcoholic beverages, coolers, canned or bottled beverages (except sealed plastic water bottles), camelbacks, thermoses, back packs, kegs, banners and signs, personal seat backs, large lens (6 inches or more) cameras, tripods, umbrellas, strollers, noisemakers, horns, bugles, or any other disruptive device and weapons of any kind. These items should be left at your vehicle.

Only small purses (8 1/2 x 11), fanny packs, binocular cases, blankets, and seat cushions will be allowed into Kinnick Stadium. Patrons with infants will be permitted to bring a diaper bag. Fans are discouraged from bringing allowable items into Kinnick Stadium. All items will be thoroughly inspected at specific entrance gates, which will delay admittance to the stadium. Patrons are subject to search and the university reserves the right to refuse entry.

Law enforcement officers may refuse entry to or eject from Kinnick Stadium anyone with an item or costume that poses an apparent security risk or could cause fear or panic to other patrons.

For complete information on 2013 football game-day rules and parking, click here.

UI Hospitals and Clinics patients and visitors

Family and friends who plan to visit patients in University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics before, during, or immediately after a football game Hawkeye football game should be prepared for delays. Hospital and UI Public Safety officials offer several tips for visiting the hospital on game days:

• Hospital visitors should consult with the patient about game day access, as hospital staff members provide patients with up-to-date information about home football games and their impact.
• Check game times here and plan to visit well before the game begins or sometime during the game when traffic is much lighter.
• Try to avoid arriving shortly before the game begins or at the conclusion of the game as traffic will be the heaviest as fans attempt to arrive and leave Kinnick Stadium.
• For approximately two hours postgame, the hospital cannot be accessed via Melrose Avenue as all lanes are converted to one-way traffic to allow pedestrians and vehicles to move away from the stadium.
• The recommended route to the hospital on game days is U.S. Highway 6 to Hawkins Drive. One lane of Hawkins Drive will always be open to through traffic heading to the hospital before, during and after the game.
• Access to the Emergency Department is available off Grand Avenue but restricted to medical emergencies only before, during, and after the game. Patients with emergencies should inform law enforcement and security personnel that they need to be seen in the Emergency Department. All patients seen in the Emergency Department will need a security code in order to exit the Emergency Department parking lot. Nonpatients who park in the Emergency Department lot may be towed. Hospital visitors should NOT use the Emergency Department parking lot.
• Patients who need emergency services after they have entered Kinnick Stadium should contact the nearest security official for assistance. On-site paramedics will assist patients to either the Kinnick Stadium First Aid Station or the UI Hospitals and Clinics Emergency Department, depending upon the severity of their illness.