Pete Souza | Public Domain | Wikimedia Commons
President Barack Obama is photographed during a presidential portrait sitting for an official photo in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Sunday promises to be filled with excitement and traffic in and around Rutgers University (RU).
Over 40,000 people are expected by RU on its New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses for its 250th anniversary commencement and other school ceremonies. President Barack Obama will be providing the commencement speech at High Point Solutions Stadium, Busch Campus in Piscataway. He also will be receiving an honorary degree.
Although the ceremony does not start until 12:30 p.m., attendees have been advised to arrive early since they will be subject to what the RU website calls “airport-like security.” Dunellen High School Project Graduation volunteers who will be working at the concessions stand are scheduled to arrive at 5:30 a.m.
According to the 511nj.org site run by NJ’s Department of Transportation and its partners, extra volume is possible before and after the event on Routes 18 and 27, U.S. 1 and Interstate 78.
Access to River Road will be restricted as Interstate 287’s exit 9 will be closed from 6:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Exit 8 for Centennial Avenue is the suggested alternative route. However, the Steampunk World’s Fair will be occurring at two nearby hotels, which may cause additional traffic.
According to the Piscataway Police Department, other local roads will experience intermittent road closures and detours.
Stadium gates open at 8 a.m. and shuttle buses will start running from the New Brunswick train station and various parking lots at 7 a.m. Special parking hangtags are required to park at RU lots. Those without parking permits are to park in New Brunswick’s downtown area and take the train station shuttle.
A live feed of the commencement ceremony and other information can be found at http://commencement.rutgers.edu/latest-updates