From left, KU freshmen Caitlin Grant, from Silverlake, Marc Roth, from Rossville, and Brooke Stebbins, from Silverlake, pose for a picture while stuck in traffic on the way to Arrowhead Stadium. On right, KU freshman Nico Roesler, of Denver, plays catch with KU freshman Patrick Salsbury, of Rossville, not pictured.

It didn’t take long for officials from Kansas and Missouri universities to respond to the horrendous traffic situation of last year’s Border Showdown at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.

Less than 24 hours after the 2007 game, which resulted in traffic being backed up seemingly for miles, representatives from both schools began discussing ways to improve the traffic situation for this year’s game, which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. next Saturday at Arrowhead.

“We started talking about this the day after last year’s game,” said KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony, who along with MU officials also discussed ideas with Arrowhead personnel. “And we have continued to talk about it. And I think (this year’s plan) will make everybody’s experience better.”

In short, this year’s parking plan calls for Kansas fans to enter and park on the west side of the stadium and Missouri fans to enter and park on the east side, based on the assumption that a majority of Kansas fans will be coming from the west and a majority of Missouri fans from the east.

The result, theoretically, will be a significant decrease in congestion on the roads leading toward the Truman Sports Complex.

Many of the traffic issues last year, Marchiony said, stemmed from fans’ lack of familiarity with the stadium, and the current plan aims to keep things as simple as possible.

“Last year, we had a lot of fans that really didn’t know where they were going, and I thought that had a lot to do with it,” he said. “So this year we’ve worked to devise a plan that we think will really help the situation.”

Both the Kansas and Missouri athletic departments have already sent out e-mails to those who have purchased tickets to the game, informing them how to best go about parking.

In addition to the designated parking areas, the schools are asking fans to carpool when possible, use just one parking space per vehicle and enter the stadium early to avoid lines for security pat-downs.

Parking lots are scheduled to open five hours before kickoff.

Notes: Kansas athletes read to preschoolers: Earlier this week, members of the Kansas football team set down their playbooks in favor of some lighter reading.

Eleven KU student athletes, including football players Mike Rivera and Brad Thorson, spent Wednesday reading children’s’ books to students at the Hilltop Child Development Center on the KU campus as part of “Kansas Reads to Preschoolers Week.”

It marked the fourth year of the event, which represents a statewide initiative by the State of Kansas Library to promote literacy.