Campus prepares for peak residence hall move-in days

It won’t be long now before University of Wisconsin–Madison residence halls are bustling with activity again. Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 29-30, will be the busiest days of the 2007 fall move-in.

Approximately 2,500 students and their families will be arriving between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on each of those days. Another 1,300 students are scheduled to move in this coming Sunday, Aug. 26, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

In order to accommodate the students and their families on those peak move-in days, traffic patterns will be altered on the following streets from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Drivers should be aware of the following:

• Observatory Drive from North Charter Street to Babcock Drive will be restricted to primarily move-in traffic and will be one-way westbound.
• Elm Drive north of Observatory Drive will be restricted to primarily move-in traffic and will be one way northbound.
• Willow Drive will be one way westbound to Marsh Lane.
• North Lake Street between West Johnson and West Dayton streets will be closed to traffic.

Drivers other than those involved in the move-in are asked to avoid those areas if possible.

Several parking lots near the residence halls will be used for unloading, which will severely limit parking spaces and require some employees to park in other lots. Employees affected are being notified by University Housing via letter this week and given suggestions for alternative parking locations.

Again this year, electronic message boards will be used to help direct students and their families to their move-in locations. There will also be numerous signs specific to individual areas.

After vehicles have been unloaded, students and parents will move them to Lot 60, particularly to the north section, or to other designated lots. Five free shuttle buses will run from Lot 60 to all of the Lakeshore and Southeast residence halls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.