Homeowners near Kroger Field preparing for game day traffic

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - The first game of the 2023 UK football season is almost here.

Four days from Tuesday, thousands of vehicles will be parked in the Kroger field lot, but many of those fans will find a parking space in neighborhoods bordering the stadium.

Quiet areas of town will get crowded with cars and foot traffic for six hours on a saturday afternoon.

We spoke with two homeowners who’ve lived a combined 80-plus years in the surrounding neighborhood. They tell us they are prepared for another season of game day traffic.

Don Martina has lived on Kastle Road, located off Cooper Drive, since 1974. It is quiet now, but on game day, it’s different.

“It’s traffic all over the neighborhood. They park on just about all four or five streets in the neighborhood,” Martina said.

Martina says it’s a ten-minute walk to the stadium.

He says at times, fans not paying attention will park their vehicle where they shouldn’t.

“It’s not just this neighborhood, too. The next neighborhood, Mount Vernon, they do the same thing; they park all over that place,” Martina said.

Mark Rehorn has lived in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, also a 10-minute walk from the stadium, for more than 30 years.

Rehorn says if you are out and trying to get home during game day traffic, it can be difficult. But he says the best time to leave the house is when the game is underway.

“If you’re not watching the game or something, you can leave during the game, and honestly, it’s not a bad time to shop, you know, like go down to Kroger or something like that because the place is kind of emptied out,” said Rehorn.

Rehorn says in the past, he has tried to warn fans about parking where they shouldn’t.

“Probably 15 minutes into the game, they were towing those cars away,” Rehorn said.

Martina and Rehorn say fan behavior in their neighborhood has gotten better over the years. However, Rehorn says he will never forget someone leaving a cooler of beer in his trees.

“I just waited, and somebody came and picked it up, you know, later on that morning,” Rehorn said.

There will be a lot of student and employee vehicles required to move from Kroger Field before 7 a.m. on home football game days.

Click here for more parking info regarding game day traffic.

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