FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus will be the site of a major Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Exercise on Wednesday, March 29, involving the University of Arkansas and the Washington and Benton County Departments of Emergency Management.

Driving, parking and pedestrian traffic will be affected late Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28 and 29. Access to the area around the arena will be restricted from the evening of March 28 until the exercise is finished, at approximately 4 p.m. March 29.

West Leroy Pond Drive will be closed to traffic. Parking lots 56B, 56C, 60, & 62 will also be closed. Staging for the exercise will begin at about 6 a.m. March 29, and by 10 a.m. a large number of emergency vehicles and emergency personnel will be on campus in the vicinity of Baum Stadium and Bud Walton Arena, both on Razorback Road. Members of the campus community who are not involved in the exercise are advised to avoid the area around Bud Walton Arena. Some university bus routes will be re-directed away from the exercise area.

The exercise will allow emergency-response agencies from both counties to practice inter-agency communication and cooperation needed for a large-scale emergency.