The FISU Games officially begin in Lake Placid on Thursday, Jan. 12, though competition actually starts one day prior in Canton and Potsdam. Lake Placid’s Main Street, between Mirror Lake Drive to Saranac Avenue, will be closed with limited access, during the Games starting at 10 a.m. on Jan. 12 and ending at 9 a.m. on Jan. 23.

Local law enforcement, representatives from both the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism and the state Olympic Regional Development Authority and members of Lake Placid 2023, the local FISU Games committee, presented a final transportation plan for the Games and a map of the Main Street closures during an informational session at the North Elba Town Hall on Thursday, Jan. 5.

The closure map and a list of frequently asked questions about the Games are available at tinyurl.com/4ub8jna3. People who have questions during the Games can call the community helpline at 518-621-3682, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

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Parking passes

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People who live and work on Main Street had the opportunity to apply for a parking pass — called a Lake Placid Parking Pass, or an LPPP — that grants access to certain road closures and parking areas on and around Main Street during the Games.

The Lake Placid Parking Pass is different from the normal year-round parking pass issued by the Lake Placid Police Department. The LPPP is a temporary pass for the Games that allows people to travel within certain Main Street closures, detailed below, and to park in the upper NBT lot.

The NBT parking lot will have between 100 to 120 parking spots available for pass holders, according to Lake Placid Police Chief Chuck Dobson. People without an LPPP won’t be able to park in the upper NBT lot during the Games. The Golden Arrow was expected to have around 100 spots available for people with an LPPP, but that lot will now only be open to Golden Arrow staff and residents, according to Dobson.

Dobson said LPPPs were being sent out to pass holders via the U.S. Postal Service on Friday.

More than 460 people applied for an LPPP, according to Jon Lundin, the Lake Placid 2023 head of communications and media. He said 44 applications weren’t approved, either because the application was incomplete or because the applicant didn’t live on Main Street or another restricted area. Those applicants were notified that they weren’t approved for a pass, according to Dobson. If someone applied for a parking pass and didn’t receive notification that their application was rejected, he said, then they’ve been approved for a pass.

For anyone without an LPPP who wants to access Main Street during the Games, free shuttle services will be available. The Essex County shuttles will run throughout the Games along with temporary shuttle services from the North Elba Horse Show Grounds.

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Partial closures accessible with an LPPP at all hours

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The following areas will be accessible 24/7 to people with an LPPP only:

¯ The portion of Main Street from Mirror Lake Drive north to Cummings Road. Cummings Road itself will be fully accessible to residents up until the Olympic Center area, where there will be no vehicular access.

¯ The stretch of Main Street from Parkside Drive north to the southern entrance of the Grand Adirondack Hotel

¯ The upper NBT lot, accessible by Marcy Road, will be available for parking 24/7 to anyone with an LPPP. Dobson said people will patrol the parking lot to check for parking passes.

“We realize how valuable those spots are and how we have to keep them open for residents and business owners,” he said. “We just have to.”

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Complete closures with no access during the Games

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The following closures will be completely inaccessible to vehicle traffic during the Games:

¯ Olympic Drive, from where it intersects with Hillcrest Avenue to Main Street

¯ The portion of Main Street in front of the Olympic Center — from Cummings Road north to Parkside Drive

¯ Hayes Street

¯ Marcy Road, from where it intersects with the upper NBT lot down to Main Street. People can still access the upper NBT lot from Marcy by traveling on Hillcrest Avenue.

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Complete closures accessible with an LPPP

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The stretch of Main Street from the northernmost entrance to the Grand Adirondack Hotel and north to the High Peaks Resort will be accessible from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. daily to people with an LPPP.

¯ Traffic within this closure will flow one way — from the Grand Adirondack Hotel north to the High Peaks resort. Dobson said there will be limited street parking available on Main Street during these hours, and cars would need to clear out by 10 a.m. each morning, when security will stop letting drivers into the closure. If there are any cars still parked on Main Street by 11 a.m., Dobson said they’ll be towed away.

¯ Delivery trucks can also access this hard closure from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. each day, even if the drivers don’t have an LPPP; Dobson said delivery drivers will be required to present a bill of lading or a work order proving their business destination. Lake Placid 2023 Head of Security Mike Ryan said that contractors, oil delivery trucks and other service vehicles will also be allowed to access the closure if they have a work order, other credentials or contacts that can prove their business.

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More parking, driving info

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¯ People will still be able to drive all the way down Saranac Avenue to where it intersects with Main Street, but drivers would have to make a left onto Mirror Lake Drive since the northern Main Street closure begins at the High Peaks Resort. Mirror Lake Drive will remain fully open and accessible to two-way traffic.

¯ Parkside Drive will remain open to regular two-way traffic from Mirror Lake Drive to the Post Office during the Games, but there will be no parking on Parkside Drive during the closures; Dobson said the North Elba Horse Show Grounds shuttles will access Main Street via Parkside, so space will be tight. The Post Office will remain open and accessible via Parkside Drive.

¯ Starting on Jan. 9, there will be no vehicular access on Marcy Drive from the Upper NBT lot down to Main Street. Crews are hauling in snow to spread along this portion Marcy Road for rail jam events that will take place during the Games.

¯ Starting on the evening of Jan. 10, the lower NBT lot and the clock lot on Main Street will close so crews can begin loading in structures and amenities — including warming huts and a 10-stall public restroom trailer — for the Main Street festival.

¯ Detour signs for the Main Street closures will go up early next week, according to Dobson, and they’ll be uncovered on Jan. 12th.

¯ There will be temporary stop signs placed at the top of Marcy Road where it intersects with Hillcrest Avenue to account for increased traffic there, according to Dobson.

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Shuttling

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For people who don’t have an LPPP, two shuttle systems will be making stops in and around Main Street — the Essex County shuttle system, which has stops at the Lake Placid Club and the Lake Placid Marina, among other locations near Main Street, and a temporary shuttle system for the Games that will travel from the North Elba Horse Show Grounds to the municipal parking lot on Main Street.

¯ Essex County’s Placid XPRSS trolley, the Cascade Express shuttle and the Whiteface Mountain Ski shuttle will make stops around Main Street during the Games. However, the Lake Placid XPRSS trolley and the Whiteface Mountain Ski Shuttle are the only free shuttle services. All three shuttles will run on revised schedules, available at tinyurl.com/4y9auc6w, during the Games. People can also flag the shuttles or request stops along the shuttles’ regular routes.

¯ Limited public parking will be available at the Lake Placid Golf House — 88 Morningside Drive — and at the Lake Placid Marina — 24 George and Bliss Lane — where the Placid XPRSS will make regular stops. The Lake Placid XPRSS runs daily from around 6:30 a.m. to around 9 p.m., and it will make stops at both the northern and southern ends of Main Street closures.

¯ North Elba Horse Show Grounds shuttles will run 24/7 from the horse show grounds to the municipal lot on Main Street and back. Parking at the horse show grounds is free and doesn’t require a parking pass. There are 750 public parking spots at the horse show grounds, according to Ashley Walden, the chief operating officer of the 2023 Games. The horse show grounds shuttles will start running at noon on Jan. 12, Walden said, and there will be nine shuttles running at all times. She said the maximum wait time for a shuttle would be around 20 minutes in a “worst-case scenario,” and warming tents are expected to be available for people who are waiting for a shuttle. The buses seat up to 50 people, according to Walden.

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Whiteface parking and security

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People can both ski and spectate Games events at the Whiteface Ski Center in Wilmington throughout the Games, but parking and traffic flow at the center will temporarily change during the Games to account for increased security and Games events.

The ski center’s River Lot parking area — the lot closest to Whiteface’s Base Lodge — will be open for pickup and dropoff during the University Games, but parking will be prohibited. The Lake Placid and Wilmington parking lots — the parking areas closest to the ski center’s entrance on state Route 86 — will remain open for parking. Shuttles will travel from the Lake Placid and Wilmington lots to the ski center. People who are skiing at Bear Den can drive up to the Bear Den parking lots and park there. Parking is free at all accessible winter sports venues, including Whiteface and Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

There will be a security check at the Bear Den Lodge and the Base Lodge. Regular pickup and dropoff at the Base Lodge will be prohibited during the Games, when that area will be used as a security checkpoint.

Everyone entering the ski center will be required to go through a security checkpoint and comply with bag checks at all entrances, according to ORDA’s Whiteface website. A map of Whiteface’s altered traffic flow during the Games, as well as a list of prohibited items at security checks, is available at tinyurl.com/2ajnrajv.