UW’s peak move-in days will affect traffic

Approximately 6,700 UW–Madison students will be moving into their residence halls next week, many for the first time. The busiest days will be Tuesday, Aug. 24, and Friday and Saturday, Aug. 27-28, according to Mike Kinderman, assistant director for residence hall facilities in University Housing.

Ogg Hall, Susan B. Davis House and Rust-Schreiner House opened Aug. 14, earlier than the other university residence halls.

To make the move-in process easier for the students and their families, a few streets will be closed or limited to one-way traffic on the peak move-in days. Drivers will want to be aware of the following temporary changes in traffic patterns, which will be in effect from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on the days mentioned above:

• Observatory Drive from Charter Street to Babcock Drive will be one-way westbound.
• Elm Drive will be one-way northbound from Observatory Drive, and Willow Drive will be one-way from Elm Drive to Marsh Lane.
• Lake Street between West Johnson and West Dayton streets will be closed to traffic, with the exception of vehicles being used to move students into the Southeast residence halls.

Several campus parking lots will be used for unloading, which will severely limit parking spaces and make it necessary for some employees to move to other lots on the peak move-in days.

Nearly 600 “Badger Buddies” will be on hand to welcome the incoming students and their families. They will help the new residents move in with their belongings, show them around the residence hall and answer questions about their new home away from home. Badger Buddies are returning residents who resided in the halls during the previous year, so they are very familiar with the halls and with the check-in process.