Streets and parking along the parade route for the 90-minute Homecoming parade Friday will be impacted.

The parade will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the intersection of Oak Street and Howes Street in Old Town. The parade route will head south on Howes Street, circling around The Oval, through the Lory Student Center Plaza, concluding at Meridian Avenue and University Avenue adjacent to the West Lawn.

Colorado State University is advising the community to utilize alternative transportation all day Friday. 

Parade Road Closures Map

Streets in the staging area will be closed starting Friday at 10 a.m., and the parade route will close at 3:30 p.m.

The closed streets include: 

• Howes Street – Mountain Avenue to Oak Street
• Oak Street – between Howes and Sherwood streets
• Sherwood Street to Mountain Avenue to Oak Street, including the Oak Street intersection
• The intersections of Oak and Meldrum streets, Oak and Howes streets, and Oak and Sherwood streets
• On campus, west-bound Old Main Drive from Rembrandt to the Oval also will be closed.

Any cars parked in the staging area will be towed starting at noon; there will be “No Parking” signs around the area.

The University is advising drivers to utilize Mason and Loomis streets for north-south travel, and Mountain and Laporte avenues for east-west travel. 

East of Howes Street, Oak Street will remain open for Larimer County Courthouse traffic.

Streets will begin to re-open as the area clears out around 5:30 p.m. Howes Street south of Mountain Avenue will not be accessible until the parade ends.

The parade route includes:

• Howes Street, south of Oak Street through Laurel Street, to the CSU Oval
• Oval Drive
• Amy Van Dyken Way
• University Avenue, west of, and including, Amy Van Dyken Way to Meridian

East-west streets along the parade route also will be closed at 3:30 p.m. Friday. These streets include:

• Olive Street
• Magnolia Street
• Mulberry Street
• Myrtle Street
• Laurel Street

Only emergency access to Meridian Avenue from South Drive and Pitkin Street will be allowed. 

In order to avoid the parade route, traffic traveling east-west should use Prospect Road or Mountain Avenue. Traffic traveling north-south is advised to use College Avenue or Shields Street.

Learn more information about road closures and parade routes here.

Once the parade ends at 6 p.m. Friday, all streets will re-open.

Those whose vehicles get towed Friday should contact Fort Collins Parking Services at (970) 221-6617. Starting at noon, vehicles that are towed will be transported to a lot on the northeast corner of Mason Street and Cherry Street.

Bus services, Transfort and MAX, will be detoured from standard stops during the parade, beginning at 1 p.m. Around the Horn will be detouring all day.

Bus routes impacted by the parade:

• Route 2
• Route 6
• Route 7
• Route 10
• Route 19
• Route 32
• The Horn

Additional details about routes impacted by the parade are available here.

Friday morning the following parking closures will go into effect:

• West side of the Oval Drive
• Amy Van Dyken Way

Parts of the Oval lawn will be closed to pedestrian and bicycle traffic throughout the day as well. 

There will be a homecoming pep rally starting at 6 p.m. on the west side of the Lory Student Center.

Several details from this article were pulled from SOURCE.

Collegian News Editor Christina Vessa can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @ChrissyVessa.