MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU’s campus police chief has 27 years worth of experience in handling WVU’s move-in day — an event that seemingly becomes bigger and more chaotic each year as enrollment at WVU balloons.
But chaotic is certainly not the word he’d use to describe it.
“Try to wear a smile, because we will survive and be through this,” Bob Roberts said. “We’ve done it year and year and year. You just have to accept that this is coming. It’s part of being in a university town.”
At this point, Roberts believes his staff, the Morgantown Police Department, the local Sheriff’s Department, and the State Police Detachment are well-coordinated enough to anticipate what WVU’s annual move-in weekend will look like during the final semester of the University’s 150th anniversary.
“For us and Morgantown and even the Sheriff’s Department, when you double the community size it can be tasking,” he said. “But we’re used to that. That’s what we do.”
Approaching mid-August, Roberts said these departments always know the calculus of law enforcement changes significantly. Perhaps no weekend in Morgantown better exemplifies this than a hectic move-in weekend that features the return of thousands of WVU students and the addition of 5,200 new students.
“That comes with the students coming back,” he said. “It’s part of our University town and part of what we do. It’s part of being a Mountaineer in Morgantown. You’ve got to accept the traffic with it, because it’s here.”
Officers from multiple agencies will be staged strategically to assist with the congestion of a downtown move-in.
“They’ll be coming into some of our key areas on campus,” Roberts said. “For our local community, we suggest that they stay away from places like North High Street area; from there, if you go back towards the Sunnyside area of Grant Avenue.”
He also said Jones Avenue is consistently packed with new arrivals. That congestion will almost certainly include parts of the Evansdale Campus as well.
“Then when you move out into Evansdale, you have Oakland, then you have Raleigh, which obviously will have a lot of visitors and people coming in,” Roberts said. “We encourage people to stay away from those, but the University Police and Morgantown Police will be out in force trying to keep the traffic moving as best we can.”
For local residents and commuters, Roberts has simple advice: avoid the congestion and recognize that move-in weekend is just one weekend of the year.
“I think that it’s important that people realize that this is a couple of days on a weekend,” he said. “If you can be patient with us, we’ll try to get everybody moved back in, and we’ll be back to our regular semester routine.”
Some students, either those living off-campus or those with specific permission to arrive early, have already returned — adding a light new layer of traffic.
“Some students are moving back into the area now, but Saturday will be the primary move-in for most of those first year students,” Roberts said. “So it will be very heavy then.”
Additionally, construction of the Easton Hill Intersection is projected to finish before WVU’s official Saturday move-in day. If the reopening is delayed, students and parents are asked to use the I-68 Sabraton exit or any of the I-79 exits in lieu of the I-68 Pierpont exit.
The last of new student orientation begins Thursday and ends Friday. Fall Fest, WVU’s annual welcome back concert, is set for Tuesday. The semester opens Wednesday, August 16.