About 75 IUPD officers will work Wednesday, with 65 of those officers dedicated to move-in day issues, such as traffic control and dormitory assistance.
IUPD Lt. Andy Stephenson said the department’s biggest challenge during this time is the amount of people arriving on campus, many of whom are unfamiliar with the area.
“We deal with a lot of traffic throughout the week, so people need to be patient and understand that we’re doing the best job we can,” Stephenson said. “We want people to have a good experience, but we’re always concerned about moving traffic along and just keeping people moving.”
To keep traffic flowing Wednesday, IUPD will restrict traffic on several streets on campus.
In the southwest and central neighborhoods, traffic on North Sunrise Drive will be diverted to one-way traffic heading south, Jones Avenue will be one-way heading east and Rose Avenue will be one-way north between Third and Seventh streets.
In the northwest neighborhood, North Woodlawn Avenue will be one-way south between Ninth and 10th streets, and North Park Avenue will be one-way north between Ninth and 10th streets.
Also, the direction of travel on Eigenmann Hall’s circle drive will reverse direction. Traffic will enter on North Union Street and exit on East 10th Street.
Stephenson said parking is also a challenge throughout the move-in process. Residence hall staffs will monitor parking at each circle drive, allowing 15 minutes to park and unload items at a circle drive, before then directing cars to nearby residence hall parking lots in CH Zones.
Stephenson said these lots fill up quickly and suggested parking near Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall.
He added IUPD would be lenient on parking this week. Enforcement of CH parking spaces begins Monday, August 24.
Stephenson said he spoke with students and parents during New Student Orientation, and he sees IUPD’s increased presence at residence halls during move-in as an opportunity to connect with the community.
“I really look forward to it,” Stephenson said. “It’s an opportunity for us to have some contact with the students and staff and parents. We try to meet and greet as many people as possible throughout the day during move-in and answer any questions that come up.”
With regard to the upcoming fall semester, Stephenson said IUPD operates in virtually the same capacity year-round and does not add any additional officers to account for the increase of students on campus.
However, in addition to regular patrols, IUPD will have officers present throughout Welcome Week activities, including the 2015 IU Block Party on Saturday.
IUPD will also begin regular Quiet Nights patrols Thursday as part of a joint IUPD and Bloomington Police Department initiative. The initiative pairs two IUPD and two BPD officers to respond to noise complaints and other party-related concerns on and off campus Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through the first couple of weeks of fall semester.
The initiative has been led by BPD for many years, but Stephenson said the addition of IUPD to this initiative in 2013 has allowed the departments to increase their manpower and ensure students living on or near campus are celebrating both safely and legally.
“We want students to enjoy their growing and learning experience on the Bloomington campus,” Stephenson said. “And we want them to be safe in doing so.”
