BLACKSBURG, Va. – Blacksburg Town Council is continuing to discuss ways to address the massive crowds at Center Street on Virginia Tech game days, and with football season right around the corner, the clock is ticking to find a solution.
Gameday on Center Street attracts hundreds of fans and town council is evaluating different ways to disperse some of the people.
One idea is to create a voluntary party registration process to develop accountability. Council is also tweaking some rules and its mass gathering ordinance and working with Virginia Tech to add an alternative activity on campus to attract fans.
“Of course, Center Street has grown over the past several years into this big event and, really, it’s because of the students. There’s really no event for them on campus so we’re working with Tech to try to do an on-campus event and also looking to establish some more rules in place for Center street in the future,” said Blacksburg Town Manager Marc Verniel.
Virginia Tech’s first home game is Sept. 10 against Boston College. Town council is hoping to have a system in place by then.