Students return to residence halls

More than 4,400 students will return to campus and begin moving into residence halls Aug. 28-29.

Teams of housing staff and “Badger Buddies” — returning student residents — will greet new students and provide assistance during move-in days. Residence halls open at 8 a.m. each morning.

University Housing takes care to coordinate the moving process to avoid traffic tie-ups, but Madison commuters may want to rearrange their routes to avoid streets near the southeast residence halls along West Johnson Street and the west campus near the lakeshore residence halls.

To make life easier for the students and their families to unload their vehicles and move belongings in to the halls, the university will be altering the traffic flow on several campus streets Aug. 28-29:

• Lake Street between West Johnson and West Dayton streets will be closed to traffic, 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Observatory Drive from Charter Street to Babcock Drive will be restricted to move-in traffic only and will be one way westbound, 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Elm Drive will be one way northbound from Observatory Drive to Willow Drive, and Willow Drive will be one way westbound to Marsh Lane, 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

In addition, several campus parking areas will be utilized for the move-in, which will severely limit parking available for employees. Permit holders in the affected lots are being notified about alternative locations in which they are being asked to park on the two busiest days.

Although 4,400 of the 6,700 students living in university housing will move in on Aug. 28-29, the entire week of Aug. 25 will be busy around the residence halls, as some students will be coming in early. Ogg Hall, Merit House, Susan B. Davis House and Rust-Schreiner House opened Aug. 14, earlier than the other halls.