GPD recommends anyone not attending home games or related activities avoid the area.

Gator football fans: Prepare for traffic.

Almost 10 blocks of West University Avenue will close for University of Florida home football games this fall, another change to protocol for Gator tradition.

West University Avenue will close between 17th and 22nd streets about three hours before kickoff and two hours after a game ends.

Add in a three-hour game (or longer, if it's televised), and you’re looking at an eight-hour sport of navigating detours and finding parking.

Police Officer Ben Tobias, the department’s spokesman, and Capt. Jorge Campos, commander of GPD's operations bureau, said the street closure was designed to protect the thousands of pedestrians who congregate on University Avenue on game days.

"Sometimes we have to sacrifice convenience for security," Tobias said.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium has a capacity of 88,548 and has exceeded that at times.

The move was a response to tragedies worldwide, most recently in Nice, France, where a cargo truck driver plowed into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84, Campos said.

Although that tragedy was a deliberate act, Campos said accidents could have casualties, too.

"People lose control of their vehicles for a variety of reasons, whether it be for health reasons, whether it be because you're intoxicated or some kind of mechanical failure," he said.

Drivers with credentials to enter the O’Connell Center parking lot or the North Lawn will still be able to access Gale Lemerand Drive from the west, Tobias said. All other eastbound traffic on University Avenue will be diverted at 22nd Street to Fifth and Eighth avenues because it can better manage the volume of traffic, he said.

Ryan Prodesky, manager at The Swamp Restaurant, said it's too soon to tell how the closure will affect business. The restaurant is at West University Avenue and 17th Street.

“The whole area down here is very busy on game days,” he said. Pedestrians already make up most of the restaurant’s game-day business, he said.

“We’re optimistic that it’s the right choice,” Prodesky said.

In April, the University Athletic Association said game-goers will not be able to bring personal backpacks, bags or seatbacks to any Gator football event. Instead, items must be carried in a clear plastic bag not exceeding 18 inches in height or width and must be less than 6 inches thick.

GPD said the Florida Department of Transportation had reviewed the traffic plan, which incorporated input from Gainesville's Public Works and Fire Rescue and UF’s Police Department and Administration, plus the UAA.

The department recommends that anyone not attending home games or related activities avoid the area. For those attending the game, the department encourages leaving extra time to navigate the new traffic patterns and to find parking.