The Mustang Football Season is set to kick off this Friday, August 30th at 7:00pm. The Mustangs will be taking on the Panthers of Alba-Golden in their home opener.
In preparation for the season, the Overton ISD safety and security committee met to review OISD's event coordination from a safety standpoint. The committee is a cross-section of thirteen stakeholders including parents, local and county law enforcement, teachers and administrators.
One of many items addressed by the committee is a lack of organization and sufficient safety measures regarding parking, traffic flow, and restricted emergency access resulting from unstructured and/or unsupervised parking areas.
In an effort to resolve these issues, the committee developed the New Parking Plan represented in the image above. Please note that the yellow areas indicate general event parking. Home fans only will be allowed to park in the HS student parking area. All fans (home and visitor) will have access to parking along Henderson Street and the OISD Bus Pit at the East end of the stadium. In addition, overflow parking is available at the softball field.
All OISD buses will be parked at an alternate location during the event to provide more parking area. In addition, local and county law enforcement will be on duty to help supervise parking to ensure safety and maximize use of the available space.
Fans parking in the "Pit" may access the stadium using the east endzone stairway. A 6-passenger, golf-cart shuttle will also be available to assist in transporting fans (from the Pit and Overflow parking) who prefer to enter near the HS gym/concession area.
The parking lot directly behind the elementary (marked in blue) is reserved for handicap parking only. A small number of handicap spaces are also available to home fans at the west end of the stadium.
The area inside the elementary main gate (marked in green) is reserved for Overton ISD employees and event workers.
Two walk gates (one at the secondary/auditorium courtyard and one at the east end of the elementary building) will be open for those parking on Henderson street. Pedestrian traffic may use Mustang Alley to access the west entrance, or the elementary parking area to access the HS Concession or East entrance. However, pedestrian traffic is prohibited between the Middle School and Elementary buildings, and there will be no vehicle entry from Henderson. All vehicle traffic must enter stadium parking from Warren Street, or from Hwy 135 (McKay Street).
No parking is allowed along the elementary entrance road (coming up the hill from Warren), and only coaches and team buses will be allowed beyond the south end (lecture hall) of the home fan parking lot on the secondary campus side.
These changes represent a relatively big shift from previous practices. The catalyst for these changes are all safety-driven, and in an effort to minimize accidents/collisions, fans being blocked in by double-parked vehicles, and access barriers for emergency vehicles and other vehicles that must enter/exit during the event.
Big thanks to the Overton Police Department and the Rusk County Mounted Patrol. Both will be providing officers that will be on site well ahead of kick-off to help fans and visitors as they become accustomed to the new procedures.
We Look Forward to Seeing YOU at the Games!