Bills game and afternoon commute to impact traffic Thursday around Orchard Park

The contest with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starts at 8:15 p.m. at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park – and road closures around the ballfield start in the afternoon.

“Most people that work in and around that area really, really do try super hard to avoid the stadium as much as humanly possible and plan alternate routes,” Erie County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jeremy R. Lehning said. “They’re very keenly aware of the fact that there’s an event at the stadium Thursday night, so they adapt to it.”

That goes for area schools, too. Orchard Park Central elementary and middle schools have a half day and the high school will have an early dismissal at 12:45 p.m. Thursday. Frontier Central students will have a half day, and Hamburg Central will dismiss students 20 minutes early.  

“The evening commute home will be difficult in the south towns due to the traffic heading to the game, so I would recommend commuters use alternative routes to come home, knowing which routes become congested due to fans traveling to the stadium,” Orchard Park Police Chief Patrick M. Fitzgerald said in an email.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Abbott Road: The section in front of the stadium will close to traffic at 3:15 p.m., and remain closed until after the game. 

• Big Tree Road: The section from Fieldhouse Drive closes to westbound vehicles and becomes two lanes before the game ends, with one way traffic headed eastbound to Route 219. Vehicles parked west of Fieldhouse Drive must travel westbound.

• Stadium lots: Open at 4:15 p.m. Lots 2-Preferred, 2-ADA and 3 are accessible from Big Tree Road (Route 20A). Lots 6-Preferred and 6-ADA are accessible from Southwestern Boulevard (Route 20.)

Drivers should refrain from parking on the shoulder of roadways to protect pedestrian safety.

Roughly 70,000 fans…