The Kansas Highway Patrol offers a winning game plan for fans attending Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown in Manhattan: Arrive early and leave sober.
Kansas is playing Kansas State, leading patrol officials to expect an especially large crowd in and around Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The morning kickoff — set for 11:30 a.m. — only adds to the pregame pressure, as procrastinating fans postpone their trips as long as possible to preserve sleep.
But consider yourself warned: Those who snooze could very much lose, at least when it comes to arriving on time.
“Delays are likely,” Technical Trooper Edna Buttler says.
Among the inevitable bottlenecks for folks heading toward the Little Apple from Lawrence will be at Exit 313 on Interstate 70. That’s to get on Kansas Highway 177, which also just happens to be Coach Bill Snyder Highway. Drivers opting to take U.S. Highway 24 through Wamego also can expect stop-and-go travel as game time approaches.
The patrol also plans to lead a saturation patrol immediately after the game in Riley and Geary counties, with troopers and officers from local law-enforcement agencies on the lookout for impaired drivers.