NORMAL -- For Illinois State University students moving into Watterson Towers on Wednesday, the waiting game was par for the course.

ISU has 10 dorms, but more than third of its almost 6,600 residents live in the high-rise towers. With so many people going through so few doors and elevators, long lines are no surprise, but it has been worse.

"It's better now," said Officer Dwayne Harris, who's seen his share of fall move-ins during 23 years with the Normal Police Department. The process improved significantly a few years ago when ISU opted to assign move-in times to students based on their room numbers.

"Before they had assigned times, everyone tried to get here early -- and Main Street would be backed up forever," he said.

Normal police kept street traffic flowing around the dorms, and ISU police handled the unloading areas. Meanwhile, a brigade of about 700 ISU employees and volunteers assisted families from ground level up.

Dozens of construction projects on and near campus didn't seem to affect the move-in plans, said Maureen Blair, ISU housing director. She credited months of coordination to minimize disruption.

"I've been all around campus today, and everything seems to be running smoothly," she said.

Move-in continues today for about 20,000 students returning for the fall semester, which starts Monday.

Despite the week's hectic pace, it's still fun, said Blair.

"I love the energy of the campus coming alive again," she said.

Still, Watterson's high population density means that the flow always is slower there than on the rest of campus. By mid-morning Wednesday, vehicles faced hour-long waits as traffic trickled along College and Fell avenues.

Once families reached the site and unloaded boxes, futons, stereos and box fridges with the help of volunteers, it was another hour to reach an elevator.

"I called my friend. She's already is in the building with her daughter. And she said 'It's organized. But its organized chaos,'" said Cooky Kuhl of Breese.

She talked out of the window of her car while her husband, Jim Kuhl, slowly inched the vehicle around the assigned route to Watterson. Cooky and daughter Sarah rode as passengers tucked in with Sarah's belongings.

The incoming freshman said she was trying to be patient, but she was excited about getting all set up in her new dorm.

The family had left Breese about 6 a.m. and exited Interstate 55 at Main Street around 9 a.m. They finally reached the unloading zone at 10 a.m.

But it wasn't time to exhale: Next was another hour wait to get a spot on one of Watterson's elevators.

A couple blocks north on Fell, arrivals at Hewett and Manchester halls found a different story. With each of those buildings holding about a quarter of Watterson's capacity, students there faced no waits. Cars pulled right up to the unloading spots, and people waited only five or 10 minutes for elevators.

An additional time-saver was the fact that those newly renovated dorms don't allow personal loft-building furniture. "It cuts down on how much students are bringing in," said Blair.

Eventually, a renovated Watterson will have the same rule, and that will cut down on move-in time there, she said.

Back in the Watterson line, Lauren Watters, a sophomore from Tinley Park, pulled a cart stacked high with boxes wrapped tight with shrink wrap. Her father Richard Watters had wanted to improve on last year's move, so he came up with the plastic wrap.

Lauren Watters said she also tried to streamline the process.

"I didn't bring as much. I definitely don't need five sweatshirts or my winter coat yet," she said.

Weather was expected to be in the mid-80s and sunny today.

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Campus life

Illinois State University, which has about 20,000 students, welcomes about 6,600 on-campus dwellers this week. Following is a breakdown, in rounded numbers, of where they live:

Watterson Towers: 2,400

Hewett and Manchester (East Campus): 700 each

Haynie, Wilkins and Wright (West Campus): 380 each

Atkin, Colby, Hamilton and Whitten (South Campus); 400 each

SOURCE: ISU