College students begin move-in madness.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

Tens of thousands of college students begin their annual fall migration today, and the flyways will be packed.

That means anyone who isn't moving a student into the University of Oregon residence halls would do well to avoid Franklin Boulevard.

The same will hold true Monday, when classes start and anyone who isn't attending Lane Community College should stay away from the Interstate 5 and East 30th Avenue area.

The annual UO move-in crush typically brings Franklin to a standstill throughout the day, especially within a mile or two of Agate Street, the north-south connector that's the main artery for campus housing. Anyone who doesn't have to be in the area is urged to take a different route.

This year's tangle could be even worse than usual because of recent changes in traffic rules. With the construction of Lane Transit District's new Bus Rapid Transit line down Franklin, westbound drivers are no longer allowed to turn left onto Agate.

Instead, those drivers need to turn a block sooner, where East 13th Avenue angles into Franklin in front of the former Williams Bakery building. That will take cars to the four-way stop at Agate, near the north end of the Hamilton housing complex.

Eugene police and campus security officers will direct traffic and try to keep things moving smoothly. However, cars will have extreme difficulty getting onto Agate Street and traffic will be backed up in the eastbound lane of Franklin Boulevard. The right-hand lane of Franklin eastbound will be reserved for UO dormitory traffic only.

A similar traffic jam occurs near LCC on the first day of classes and usually continues for the first week. Cars exiting I-5 at East 30th Avenue often back up onto the freeway during the morning rush, from about 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and those who do not need to be in the area are urged to avoid it.

LCC advises students and employees to use the bus if possible and, if not, to carpool or ride a bike. Those who must drive should arrive at least a half hour early.

Parking lots also typically fill up during the first week, and this year LCC will paint stripes on some grassy areas around campus to help ease the crunch. "Lot Full" signs will be posted as parking areas fill.

Neither the UO nor LCC has made an enrollment projection for the term. The UO is expected to be close to last year's enrollment of 20,400; anything over that will be a record.

Registration at LCC continues even after classes start, so enrollment figures aren't available until later in the term. Enrollment director Helen Garrett said it's difficult to predict but interest in LCC among high school seniors was particularly high last spring.

"For our Lane Preview Night, we expected 300 high school students to come, we ordered pizza for 500 and had over 1,000 show up," she said.

Lane has been working to ease the indoor traffic jams in its student services building by improving its Internet services, and Garrett said the effort is paying off.

She said 74 percent of the students enrolling in credit classes used the college Web page to apply for admission and enroll this term, significantly reducing the number who need to come in personally and wait in line for help.

The college is continuing that effort by having student aides available in the building to help students navigate the Web services. Computers are available in the building lobby and in a computer lab to apply, register for classes, apply for financial aid and take care of other college business.

Having less staff due to budget cuts has helped keep lines shorter.

"By pushing that out to the Web, we're freeing ourselves up to take care of those people who have needs and can't use the computer system, or have issues that need a personal resolution," Garrett said.

But that doesn't mean students should expect clear sailing on the first day of classes.

"Monday will be crazy," she said.