Americans and out-of-town tourists will be hitting the road across the country ahead of the upcoming solar eclipse, but travelers should be patient as traffic jams are expected.
It’s a traffic nightmare that’s in full swing in 15 states from Texas to Maine and has “widespread impacts” on at least 30 interstates. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
“A total solar eclipse in the United States would be like 20 or 30 Super Bowls happening at once,” said Richard Feinberg, project manager for the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Eclipse Task Force. told the time.
“So many people are coming from long distances to see this spectacle.”
Approximately 31.6 million people live on the Path of Perfection. In Ohio alone, it is expected that there will be more than 150,000 to 575,000 visitors just for this event. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The last time Ohio experienced a total solar eclipse was in 1806, major cities like Cleveland and Dayton saw a total solar eclipse on April 8, and other areas like Columbus and Toledo also saw a near-total solar eclipse. can be seen.
Other states, such as Arkansas, estimate that up to 1.5 million tourists could visit the state. According to the Arkansas Times.
Texas Department of Transportation Director Adam Hammonds said Texas expects up to 1 million out-of-state visitors to attend the event.
The Canadian side of Niagara Falls had already declared a state of emergency last week ahead of the eclipse, with the iconic falls considered one of the best viewing locations and up to 1 million visitors expected to visit the falls. It is estimated that you will visit a waterfall.
FHWA urges travelers to avoid major traffic jams in cities that are hotspots for this rare celestial event, especially considering the agency expects at least 5 million people to travel for this event. They advise people to leave earlier and stay longer in the states.
According to the Journal of the Society of Transportation Engineers, if all 5 million visitors left immediately after a total solar eclipse ended, and it lasted less than four minutes, it would take 71 football games to finish at the same time. It is said to be equivalent.
Melissa Schreig learned the hard way in 2017 when she drove 400 miles to see the Smoky Mountains the day before a competition.
“It was supposed to take six or seven hours to get there, but it took just over six hours just to go two hours south from here,” she told Time magazine. “That was insane.”
Schleig is among the visitors expected to travel to Niagara Falls for this year’s event and is already making plans to extend her trip to avoid traffic jams. She will be in the Canadian town from April 4th to April 10th.
Michigan photographer Beth Hatter, 62, plans to travel to Texas five days before the event this year to avoid disaster and headaches.
“We made the mistake of trying to drive home that same day.” [for the 2017 eclipse]… So thankfully we’re right there, so I don’t think we’ll have to deal with the traffic nightmare that most people would experience,” she told TIME.
This rare celestial phenomenon, in which the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, begins in Dallas at approximately 12:30 p.m. CST and ends in Caribou, Maine at approximately 4:40 p.m.
For cities with ongoing total power outages, total power outages will occur sometime between 1:40 PM CST in Dallas and 3:13 PM ET in Cleveland and 3:32 PM ET in Caribou. A power outage begins. According to NASA.
The next solar eclipse in this region is expected to occur in 2044.
