It’s TSSAA high school basketball tournament time again in Middle Tennessee, and MTSU once again is making temporary parking and traffic changes to accommodate its guests and neighbors.

The TSSAA Division I High School Basketball Tournaments are set March 6-9 for the girls and March 13-16 for the boys inside Murphy Center’s Hale Arena on the northwest side of the MTSU campus.

As a result, all motorists traveling around and on campus should be aware of several factors affecting MTSU roads and parking.

• MTSU’s East Main Street and Rutherford Boulevard entrances will be the most convenient campus entry points during the tournaments, university officials said. The traffic gate on Old Main Circle at the east side of the Cope Administration Building will be open for both tournaments for access to the Midgett Parking Lot and Old Main Circle.

• The Greenland Drive parking lot will be reserved for TSSAA ticket holders during both tournaments, and vehicles must pay $5 to park there. Students and faculty who use the Greenland Drive lot should prepare now to find alternative parking on campus, including the Tennessee Livestock Pavilion lot off Greenland Drive and the Rutherford Boulevard and MTSU parking lots.

• Faulkinberry Drive and Normal Way will be closed during both tournaments to accommodate TSSAA team buses. No parking or street access will be available.

MTSU mascot Lightning strides across East Main Street in this 2018 file photo. Lightning and the rest of the university will be welcoming the 2019 TSSAA high school basketball tournaments to campus March 6-16. (MTSU file photo by Kimi Conro/photo illustration by News and Media Relations)

University officials are encouraging all motorists to avoid Middle Tennessee Boulevard if possible, or at least allow extra time to reach their destinations, because of ongoing road construction and tournament traffic congestion around campus. Campus motorists also should use the university’s perimeter parking lots and the Raider Xpress shuttle service during the tournaments.

MTSU will be on spring break March 4-9, during the first TSSAA tournament. No classes will be held, but university offices will be open regular hours.

The Raider Xpress shuttle service will not run while the university is on spring break; it will return to its normal schedule March 11. During the second TSSAA tournament March 13-16, the shuttles’ “Green Route” will not serve the Greenland Drive parking lot. To accommodate riders affected by this temporary change, an extra bus will serve the “Red Route” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 13-14.

All other events scheduled on campus during the tournaments will be allowed first-come, first-served parking in any of MTSU’s free lots, based on availability.

A searchable campus map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTParkingMap.

For more information about MTSU traffic, parking and road closures, call the MTSU Parking and Transportation Services Office at 615-898-2850 or visit www.mtsu.edu/parking. For more information about the TSSAA state tournaments, visit www.tssaa.org or call 615-889-6740.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)

Click this 2018-19 MTSU campus map to see a larger PDF version.