LARAMIE — As one of the Cowboy State’s biggest logistical undertakings, move-in day for incoming freshman at the University of Wyoming is usually chaotic, adding in broken dorm elevators and extensive road construction all around the campus can make it a complete nightmare.
The last-minute opening of a major intersection saved the nightmare of Friday’s annual move-in day chaos from being complete.
Masses of UW freshman and their parents descend upon the campus and move new students into their dorms while trying to get their bearings.
Just as things were about to kick off on Friday, elevators broke down in all four main dormitories, creating nearly block-long waiting lines as parents and students piled up with carts full luggage and other possessions.
“We have one elevator out in each of four dorms,” UW Housing and Dining Maintenance Manager Todd Mendick told Cowboy State Daily.
That stalled the master plan to move students into the high-rise dorms in staggered turns, starting with those on the top floors first, then moving down, he said.
Even so, at least by mid-morning the mood on the sidewalks and streets was patient acceptance rather than surly and fed up.
“This is a day when you have to have a lot of patience. I mean, just look at that line,” Kari Short told Cowboy State Daily as she waited to check out a cart for her son Garrett’s belongings.
UW Director of Housing Kim Zafft told Cowboy State Daily that the elevators breaking down certainly didn’t help what is already a busy day on campus, but it hadn’t completely derailed move-in day.
“Every year we have some sort of unexpected challenge,” she said. “Move-in day is still my favorite day at UW.”
Intersection Opens Just In Time
Even without the unexpected elevator snafu, this year was lining up to be more complicated with nearly the entire center of campus in a construction zone.
The east-facing side of the UW Union is all but cut off by the massive construction of new dormitories and a new dining center just to the north.
Most of 15th Street, the major east-west artery through campus, is shut down and will likely remain closed until spring.
That raised worries with UW’s housing and dining staff because 15th is the only access to King Street, a one-way road that runs in front of the dorms and the Washakie Dining Center.
That left King Street accessible only by coming in the wrong direction, and with no outlet. So, there would have essentially been no way for hundreds of vehicles full of freshman and their parents to get near the dorms.
Luckily, a section of 15th Street leading from Grand Avenue to a new roundabout at the intersection with Ivinson Street was opened at the last minute.
From Ivinson, vehicles were able to turn left onto King Street.
“It was opened at 4:30 p.m. yesterday, just in time,” Eric Webb, the associate vice president of UW enterprises, told Cowboy State Daily.
There had been only one major hiccup early Friday, Mendick said.
A semitruck driver “who had probably just been following his GPS” ended up trapped in the roundabout.
“It plugged things up for a while,” Mendick said. “But then he managed to get the truck turned and headed back west down Ivinson. I’m still not sure how he did it.”
‘It’s Been A Little Chaotic’
Even with the semi long since out of the way, cars were backed up nearly bumper-to-bumper along the section of 15th Street leading up to the roundabout.
It was still better than having it cut off completely, Zafft said.
“We’ve been saying for a while that we just had to have access to King Street,” she said.
There was some parking about a block to the north, along Sorority Row.
There, parents Sandra and Brent Salverson were cramming a cart full and had a dorm fridge on a dolly — all for their daughter, Ava.
Ava is the youngest of four children, so the Salversons have been to a lot of move-ins on different university campuses, but this was the family’s first at UW.
Overall, considering the construction, things were going relatively smoothly, Brent said.
“It’s been a little chaotic,” he said.
Vehicles back up in a new roundabout at the intersection of 15th and Ivinson streets on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie during Move-In Day on Friday. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily) 
One of Laramie’s busiest intersections – the corner of Willett Drive and 15th Street – remains cut off as construction continues on a new University of Wyoming dining center and dormitories. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily) 
The front door into the White Hall dormitory on the University of Wyoming campus became a choke point during Move-In Day on Friday. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily) 
University of Wyoming Director of Housing Kim Zafft helps new students find their way around campus during Move-In Day on Friday. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily)
Construction Is Far From Over
Much of the UW campus will be under construction for a long while yet, university spokesman Chad Baldwin told Cowboy State Daily.
A second roundabout is being built at another busy intersection, 15th and Willett Drive. So 15th Street will remain essentially cut off at least until spring 2025.
The new dining center and one of the dorms, North Hall, will open in Fall 2025. It’s hoped that the second new dorm, South Hall, will be open the following spring, Baldwin said.
Massive projects right in the heart of campus will make getting around UW complicated, Baldwin said. But pedestrian access corridors have been left open in key areas.
‘Wait And See How It Goes’
As the crowd continued to build along Kind Street, parents Ted and Kimberly Johnson said they scouted things out and came up with a plan to get their son Spencer moved in sometime later in the day.
They had also spent time Thursday exploring campus on foot trying to figure out how Spencer can make his way around campus between classes.
“The construction definitely crimps your ability to get around campus,” Ted said.
“The first day here, we were just walking all around trying to figure out the best way to get to the Union,” Kimberly said.
Zafft said she’s not sure how things will play out as the new crop of freshman start moving from the dorms and west across 15th, where the Union and most of the classrooms are.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes,” she said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
