04/04/2024

Drivers and Officials Brace for Massive Eclipse Traffic Jams

They're saying it will be like '20 or 30 Super Bowls'

Melissa Schleig, a postmaster who lives in Strasburg, Virginia, drove more than 400 miles southwest to the Smoky Mountains to see the 2017 solar eclipse. The travel experience was miserable.

“It should have taken us about six to seven hours to go down there; it took us about a little over six hours just to go about two hours south of here. It was insane,” said Schleig, who began to drive down the day before the eclipse.

At least 5 million people traveled for the 2017 eclipse, according to a journal by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, but even more are expected to gather to witness this year’s total solar eclipse on April 8. Already, an estimated 31.6 million people currently live in the roughly 115-mile wide path of totality—compared to the 12 million that did in 2017.

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.