CHAPEL HILL – You may want to leave a bit earlier for UNC football and basketball games that fall on or near the holidays.

Chapel Hill Transit Director Brian Litchfield says 500-800 people use the University Mall Park and Ride for football games at Kenan Stadium. However, the UMall parking lot is privately owned and is not available during peak shopping times.

Litchfield says there is more than enough space in the other lots at the Friday Center, Southern Village, and on Jones Ferry Road. He says it may take some people a little bit longer to get there but that Chapel Hill Transit had advertised the Thanksgiving UMall lot closure and will announce the closure there for the Christmas season.

Litchfield also says the UMall lot has been closed during or around the holidays for the last five years.