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Northern Illinois University

NIU Office of Public Affairs


News Release

Contact: Joe King, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-4299

Aug. 4, 2004

NIU announces Move-In Day traffic plan

DeKalb — More than 5,000 students are expected to move into Northern Illinois University residence halls as the university welcomes students back for the 2004-05 academic year, Thursday, Aug. 19.

 

In an effort to improve traffic on major thoroughfares in DeKalb, especially Annie Glidden Road, university officials will once again divert most traffic westward and have students enter campus from that direction. That traffic pattern was used in 2003 and dramatically improved the flow of traffic, officials say.

 

Under the plan, most Move-In Day traffic exiting I-88 at Annie Glidden Road immediately will be diverted onto Fairview Road. The traffic will head 2 miles west to Nelson Road, then 2 miles north to Route 38 and then east about a mile to campus. Police officers will be posted at every intersection along the way, and more than 100 signs will keep motorists on course.

 

That route utilizes lightly traveled roads with few intersections, Lt. Matt Kiederlen explained. “We hope this will minimize the impact on local traffic as much as possible while still quickly getting students where they need to go,” he said.

 

Even with the new plan, traffic on and around the NIU campus is expected to be much heavier than normal on Aug. 19. The university is urging motorists to avoid the area if possible. All roads on the West Campus will be one-way streets that day, and any cars getting caught up in traffic will have little hope of exiting quickly.

 

“The steps we are implementing are meant to specifically deal with students moving into residence halls,” Kiederlen said. “That does not take into account the hundreds or thousands of students moving into non-university housing who will be on and around campus that day. No matter what we do there is going to be a lot of traffic that day, and those who can avoid the area would probably be well advised to do so.”

 

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