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Metro gets ready for Halloween ‘07

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by Bridget Roby

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

With University of Wisconsin homecoming events well underway and Freakfest only a few days away, Madison Metro has been making plans for safe travel throughout the week’s festivities.

Although tickets for this year’s Freakfest are currently far from sold out, Metro is expecting significant traffic delays throughout the weekend.

According to Metro marketing specialist Mick Rusch, the series of bus detours for the weekend will begin Friday at 3 p.m., just in time for the Homecoming Parade on State Street and the surrounding areas, which will be followed by a 7 p.m. pep rally.

Buses will use Johnson and Gorham streets to detour from lower State Street, and the detour will extend through the afternoon Friday until 7 p.m.

“What we tell everybody is to expect delays,” Rusch said. “A lot of people just walk because traffic in general is delayed, but we hope everybody does ride Metro instead of driving to make it safer for everybody.”

According to Rusch, the real mix-up, however, starts with arrival of Halloween festivities on Saturday.

“Saturday gets a little difficult because we can’t get across State Street,” Rusch said. “All of our routes starting at about 4 p.m. are going to go around this crazy detour.”

Routes 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 13 will all use alternative routes to avoid Freakfest on State Street, and detours will continue until the end of the service day.

Rusch said routes 81 and 82, both SAFEride routes, will also make slight detours Saturday, as Langdon Street, in addition to State Street, becomes inaccessible during Freakfest.

Tripp Circle buses on Route 81 will serve the bus stop on Park Street at the Memorial Union, and Route 82 will serve the East Johnson-Gorham corridor during the detour. The buses will also stop at southbound Park Street at Lathrop Drive, which is across from the Mosse Humanities Building.

While the city prepares for heavy traffic, however, there were only approximately 4,300 Freakfest tickets distributed as of Monday afternoon, according to Joel Plant, the former alcohol policy coordinator for the city of Madison and current mayoral aide. The 4,300 include complimentary tickets that were given out to various residents, including those who live or work on State Street.

“We’re looking at north of 1,000 that have been sold so far, as of earlier this afternoon,” Plant said.

However, he said he expects about a 50-percent increase in sales in the days leading up to the event, as most tickets last year were sold on the day before and day of the event.

“We expect them to get progressively higher this week,” Plant said.

Advance tickets are currently available for $5 through Ticketmaster, on Frank Productions’ website or at several businesses in the State Street area that have the multicolored Freakfest posters displayed in their storefront windows, including The University Bookstore.

Tickets can also be purchased the day of the event at booths along State Street for $7 starting at noon.

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Anonymous (October 23, 2007 @ 8:09am):

The last 6 paragraphs in this article having nothing to do with Madison Metro bus routes.

Anonymous (October 23, 2007 @ 4:54pm):

Halloween in Madison is dead. Thanks, Mayor Dave.

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