Nearly 5,000 students moved into NIU’s residence halls Thursday, but despite the heavy traffic, NIU officials reported no major incidents.

University Police, faculty and volunteers followed a plan to ease congestion on the west side of DeKalb during the migration.

As part of the plan, traffic on Annie Glidden Road from Interstate 88 was directed to Fairview Road and then headed two miles west to Nelson Road. From Nelson, the traffic was directed two miles north to Illinois Route 38, and finally went east one mile to campus, according to NIU’s plan.

The plan was nearly the same as last year’s. University Police Sgt. Todd Henert said there were not any major changes from the 2003 plan. NIU added more signs and stationed more officers around campus, he said, which helped drivers find their way without confusion.

“There was one 20-minute backup, but in the past there have been backups for up to an hour,” Henert said.

Besides traffic on the road, students encountered other forms of traffic on move-in day.

When some students arrived on campus, they were met with a line for the elevators that led out the residence hall door.

Regardless of the wait, some parents of first-time students expressed their appreciation toward everyone involved in the moving process.

“Traffic coming in was very smooth and all of the NIU guides were extremely helpful,” said Rick and Terry Decourcey, parents of freshman marketing major Mary Decourcey.

Several parents praised the NI Guides, volunteer students trained to make the new residents’ move-in more comfortable, for their hard-working attitude. The guides helped out by carrying belongings and directing parents and students to their rooms.

“We used to call it gridlock, but now that we changed the setup, we just call it move-in day,” Henert said.