If Lawrence and Kansas University officials hope to increase attendance at KU football games, they must find a way to improve the traffic flow to and from Memorial Stadium on game days.

It’s great to have a sell-out crowd at Memorial Stadium, as was the case with last Saturday’s KU-Nebraska game, but local officials aren’t prepared for the kind of traffic such a crowd generates. In many cases, it takes longer to drive from the stadium to the city limits than it does to travel from Lawrence to Topeka or Kansas City. It’s not much of a welcome to people who come to campus to support their team.

Several streets on and adjacent to the KU campus are made one-way after games to accommodate the crowds, but additional measures may be needed to direct traffic and avoid backups on key routes out of Lawrence. Ninth and 23rd streets are especially taxing on game days. Construction projects that have hampered the flow of traffic this fall on Sixth Street and other major thoroughfares also contribute to the problem.

Encouraging people to enjoy food and beverages at tailgate gatherings before and after the game may help spread the traffic problems somewhat, but that isn’t the whole answer. Perhaps the athletic department should do something to encourage more people to use shuttle buses to and from the stadium to free parking lots farther from the stadium. Are the pickup and drop-off locations convenient? Is there a way to give shuttle buses a special route that lets them avoid getting caught in after-game traffic?

Any revision of traffic access to the stadium, no doubt, will require considerable study by university and law enforcement officials, so there may be little chance of easing the traffic situation this season. But before next season, officials should take a look at the problem and ways to solve it. Long, frustrating traffic waits don’t do much to make a fan’s experience more pleasant.

The KU football team is working hard and showing signs of becoming a team that more people will want to watch. University and public officials should do their part to support that effort by providing easier access to the stadium for potential spectators.