At 6:30 a.m. Friday, about 30 people hoping to renew or apply for driver’s licenses waited outside the state’s Douglas County service station in Lawrence, 1035 N. Third St., for the 7 a.m. opening.

By 9:30, the line had moved inside, but it had swollen to standing-room-only, snaking around the office.

Some folks read books while others slouch, showing disgruntled looks.

For weeks, people have been reporting the same scene: two- and three-hour waits at the local service station.

“Very frustrating,” said Kansas Department of Revenue spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda of the long wait times.

But it’s not due to any computer problems related to the state’s $40 million software upgrade that’s caused problems with the state’s license plate renewal system, she said.

There’s a typical 11 percent bump in visitors to the offices across the state during the summer, as students on school break flock to the offices for new licences, Koranda said. And there’s been no reduction in staff at the local office, she said.

The state is looking at ways to ease the congestion, Koranda said, such as adding a greeter to help streamline the flow. And at several offices in the state, they’re offering online check-ins that send out an alert to drivers that their time is coming. At the Olathe station, which features online check-in, they’ve also expanded hours to Mondays. It’s a longer drive, but with the online check-in, it might be better than the wait here in Lawrence, Koranda said.

On Friday morning, it was a mix of young, old and middle-aged drivers settling in to wait for who knows how long.

“They’re not even telling us how long,” said Stacy McCurdy, who was trying to renew her driver’s license. She popped in with her two daughters, then turned away, realizing they were unprepared for the long wait.

“I’m going to feed (the girls) before we come back,” she said.

For more information about online check-in, visit http://bit.ly/OCLVjy.