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UT Game Day Safety: Thank You, City Employees! 
Celebrating Vol football victories sure is a lot of fun.

But helping the University of Tennessee in putting on a party for 100,000 fans at Neyland Stadium – plus, hosting all the pre-game tailgating, family gatherings and downtown revelry – requires all-hands-on-deck staffing from many City departments.

These Vol fans make their way to Neyland Stadium via Volunteer Landing.

Here is a look at some of the behind-the-scenes logistical heroics and a few of the City employees who protect, serve, set up for the Vol Walk, get the teams into Neyland Stadium, redirect fan traffic, and clean up heaps of trash on Game Days:


Police

More than 100 KPD officers, plus cadets and Explorers, are needed on home football Saturdays – and that's just to help manage traffic. That's not counting the patrol and bicycle officers.

In his 22 years as a Knoxville Police Department motorcycle officer, Sgt. Greg Womac has only missed working traffic control at one UT football game – and that was when he was laid up in a hospital.

"We're needed because we're a lot more mobile," Womac says. "You can get a motorcycle to a trouble spot a lot more quickly than a car. This is one of our specialties."KPD Sgt. Greg Womac

Womac fondly refers to himself and his motorcycle unit members as "motors," and he knows he'll see familiar faces on Game Day. All the "motors" are expected to work football games and major special events. That's understood, he says, when officers join the unit.

The first motorcycle officers report to work four hours prior to kickoff. They escort the players, help with the Vol Walk, and lead the officiating team into Neyland Stadium.

Then, three hours before kickoff, another 44 officers begin managing traffic and assisting with pedestrian street crossings.

An hour after kickoff, 36 more officers start their shift. They beef up KPD's numbers for the back end of a game – trying to most efficiently get tens of thousands of vehicles safely out of the center center and back home.

Some may honk and get impatient, "but the majority of motorists are happy to see us," Womac says.

Strategically located along Cumberland Avenue, Henley Street and Neyland Drive, officers manually control the traffic signals. Instead of a traffic free-for-all, whole blocks of cars and trucks move along a corridor move efficiently. Once their block of vehicles is cleared out, another wave can move forward. It's the quickest way to get traffic flowing. 

"There's a whole bunch of moving parts," the sergeant says. "The motors do it, because experience counts."


Fire

KFD typically posts 17 firefighters at strategic locations – on small mobile vehicles, on a mini pumper, inside the stadium, and three with a rescue boat.

The job is simple but challenging: KFD is present four hours prior to kickoff and stays two hours after the game ends, and KFD's main responsibility is to coordinate all fire and medical response activities in and around Neyland Stadium. That includes areas from White Avenue to Neyland Drive and 11th Street to Volunteer Boulevard West.

"The Command Post is a unified command post that coordinates between UTPD, AMR, KCSO, KPD and KFD, along with other University components such as Facilities and Athletics," KFD Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks says. "It's clear that without our system in place, emergency response during campus special events such as football games and large-scale concerts would be severely hampered."

Firefighters are ready to respond to medical emergencies on Game Day/


Public Service

Another department that goes the extra mile to make Game Day possible is Public Service.

Talk about a hard-working crew! These dozen employees volunteer to service downtown and Fort Sanders on home football Saturdays, and, if it's a late game, they're reinforced by the overnight crew. They do everything from setting up the orange fencing for the pre-game Vol Walk on campus to picking up and schlepping 3 tons of garbage and debris to the Solid Waste Facility.

Public Service also sets up the orange fencing to make the Vol Walk possible.

"Pretty much the same employees do Game Day duty week to week, so they're experienced and know how to get the job done efficiently under sometimes trying conditions," Public Service Central Manager Robbie Corum says. 

"Home football games make for really long days. But having a dedicated crew that enjoys interacting with people and is excited to be working the game – that helps a lot. Our team really cares about keeping downtown and Fort Sanders tidy and looking their best."

Public Service gets Fort Sanders and Downtown ready for Game Day.


Engineering

Like the other departments, Engineering's secret to Game Day success is: Come early, stay late, and be there in big numbers.

The Signs and Markings crews set up (and then take down) 600 orange comes, 50 barricades and 50 traffic signs.

A City crew installs a temporary Game Day traffic sign on Neyland Drive.

The Signal Shop team reprograms the timing of 30 traffic signals to better accommodate the mass of fans heading toward – and then later, away from – Neyland Stadium. It's done manually at the traffic signal cabinets.

All in all, City Engineering staffing works about 171 hours before, during and after a UT home game.

Transportation Systems Manager Bryan Gilbert
Three hours before kickoff, all the cones, barricades and signs are in place. The signals have been retimed. Then, at halftime, the staff starts reworking it all, basically reversing what they've done, to get ready for the post-game traffic heading the opposite direction.

"We're blessed with a great group," Transportation Systems Manager Bryan Gilbert says. "We take pride in what we do. It doesn't hurt that all but two are UT fans. We've got one who's a Bama fan. But we have expertise, we like providing service to the Tennessee football fans, and we all take pride in keeping everyone safe."


The Signs and Markings crews set up (and then take down) 600 orange comes, 50 barricades and 50 traffic signs for each UT home football game.
Posted by evreeland On 26 September, 2024 at 11:14 PM  

 
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