Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
In a meeting with representatives from Oakesdale, Rosalia, Garfield and Palouse Aug. 14, WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos announced that the university is going to promote alternate routes to football games.
They are creating a map to encourage fans to take the byways instead of relying on Highway 195 for southbound travel to games.
With this year’s expansion of Martin Stadium, Moos said the university expects more cars coming into Pullman on the five home game Saturdays.
“It’ll be like five Apple Cups,” Moos said. “We are going to be at capacity at Martin Stadium. We want to make it as easy as possible for our fans coming to the games.”
He indicated that people driving from both the west and north could cause a bottleneck on 195 through Colfax.
“Route 271 is the key,” said Moos, citing the alternate route from the Spokane area. “From Hatch Road at the base of Spokane to Pullman, it’s the same (as taking 195); 75 miles.”
Alternate route signs had been posted by WSDOT, but have since been taken down.
“We asked them to please put them up,” said Palouse Chamber of Commerce President Bev Pearce, who was at the meeting. “What it means to the small towns is hopefully an increase in people coming to our towns.”
The WSU Athletic Department asked for bullet-point information from each town on where ATMs are, gas stations, and RV parks are so those features can be included on the WSU maps.
The maps will then be distributed in the towns as well as to alumni, donors and fans in various venues.
“He’s really excited,” said Rosalia City Clerk Jenna McDonald of Moos. “I thought it was great. It was very energizing, especially from an economic development point of view. To be included in the planning and coordination of WSU is huge.”
Also present at the meeting were representatives from the Washington State Patrol, the Department of Transportation, as well as Southeast Washington Economic Development Association (SEWEDA).
“I think it’s going to be good for the whole county,” said Rosalia city council member Nan Konishi, who also attended. “It’s a good way to unite the county as a whole. So often it feels Pullman is just its own entity, and it’s up to us small communities to tap them on the shoulder and remind them we’re here. If one of us succeeds, we all have a better chance of succeeding.”
Pearce said that her town’s Chamber is discussing ways to tap into the alternate-routes idea, working on a concept to have a bus take people to the games and back from Palouse.
Otherwise, Pearce said that in general, the raised awareness from the maps will help.
“Perhaps the people coming through won’t stop, but if they’re informed, they might come back again,” said Pearce.
Palouse, the last town on Highway 27 for southbound traffic to Pullman, has recognized some gains with its RV park which was created to some extent with an idea of attracting Cougar fans on game weekends.
Highway 27 routes southbound from Spokane could also attract more of the Cougar population which begins game day migrations south from the Spokane Valley.
One change in the traditional Cougar football traffic tangles will be the Apple Cup game which this year has been booked for a Friday, Nov. 23. The Husky game was changed to the Friday after Thanksgiving as part of the television package deal negotiated by the PAC-12 conference.
Other home game dates are Sept. 8 vs. Eastern Washington, Sept. 22 vs. Colorado, Sept. 29 vs. Oregon, Oct. 13 vs. California and November 10 vs. UCLA.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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