Thousands of students making their way to NIU last Thursday made campus look like a big city & even if it was for only three hours.

And with them came traffic problems that plagued the west side of campus.

“This is one of the busiest traffic days of the year on campus,” said Bill Finucane, NIU transportation manager. “When you try to move in 5,000 people it’s going to get hectic.”

The estimated 5,000 students and their vehicles began arriving shortly after 9 a.m. and heavy traffic continued until 1 p.m., creating an immense amount of traffic on the newly paved roads of NIU’s campus.

Many of the roads on the west side of campus were converted into one-way avenues, with the remaining streets temporarily being closed for the day.

Two full shifts of police patrolmen, including parking enforcement workers, were needed to direct traffic at every corner.

The most chaotic area on campus was Stadium Drive East, Finucane said. The overwhelming number of students needing to get to Lincoln Hall and the Grant Towers South contributed to the congestion. University Police officer Leon Mitchell was very pleased with how well the traffic was flowing.

“The weather played an important part in today’s move in,” Mitchell said. “Yesterday it was rainy and wet. The nice weather makes the people happy and energetic.” While entering DeKalb, traffic was clear, but sporadic delays around campus caused backups.

Karen DeVoss, mother of freshman undecided major Kate DeVoss, thought the traffic situation was chaotic.

“Traffic was good until we got to where everyone was turning into the dorms,” she said. “Then it got confusing with the turns and it got backed up.”

Finucane thought the traffic was handled well.

“The situation was worse than it gets during football games … but it passed without any real hassles.”