Thousands of students will be returning to UConn campuses over coming days, including about 12,300 moving into Storrs residence halls, and about 420 who will be living in housing near UConn Stamford.
Early arrivals for the 2018-19 academic year began last weekend at Storrs. Freshmen start moving in to residence halls at 7 a.m. Friday, followed by upperclassmen and transfer students over the weekend.
Overall, about 23,000 undergraduate students will start classes Monday at Storrs and the regional campuses. Many thousands of additional students are enrolled at other locations in UConn’s schools of law, medicine, and dental medicine.
Most of the major summer construction at Storrs is scheduled to be wrapped up by Friday, although drivers may experience some spots where traffic patterns are changed as projects are completed.
Students moving to Storrs are being asked to pay special attention to guidance from the University to help make their move-in process easier amid the construction process.
Specifics on traffic restrictions and staged check-in areas have been provided on the UConn Office of Residential Life’s arrival information website and sent directly to students, and signs will be posted that apply to the various residential areas.
The University also is reminding drivers that they should not rely on GPS, because those mapping services would not reflect the traffic patterns and detours necessitated by construction and move-in schedules.
For instance, all traffic is one-way on Alumni Drive between Hillside Road and Hilltop Apartments this week. The service road into the Alumni Quad (Watson, Belden, Brock, and Eddy halls) will be one-way on Thursday morning and again all day on Friday and Saturday.
People moving into the Hilltop area and to the North and Northwest complexes are advised to enter the campus from Discovery Drive, which connects to Route 44 at its northern end and carries traffic directly toward the heart of campus.
Since the Storrs campus population will jump significantly this week – particularly on Friday and over the weekend – UConn Police are reminding drivers and pedestrians to exercise caution and extend consideration for one another.
Drivers must always yield to pedestrians, and pedestrians should always use crosswalks where available. Those rules apply not only at UConn’s Storrs campus, but also on the city and town roads around UConn’s regional campuses.
Drivers who are not part of move-in or work-related traffic are being encouraged to use alternate routes on and around the Storrs campus during daylight hours on Friday and over the weekend to avoid delays from the heavier-than-usual traffic and detours.
UConn’s bus fleet will not operate on Friday, but the on-demand accessible van service will be available. Buses resume their regular weekday schedule early Monday morning, but some routes have changed, particularly in light of the ongoing construction, so check the Transportation Services web page for updated lines and stops.
The University’s Parking Services office provides information on its site (www.park.uconn.edu/) about parking options and passes at various campuses, rules and regulations, and the policy for the proper use of motor bikes, mopeds, and scooters on campus.
A newly updated parking map has also been posted online to show changes in the permits assigned to various areas, which will be helpful as returning students and others determine where to park this year.
Students and their families are also advised to watch UConn’s social media channels on Facebook and Twitter.
