Driving not advised for eclipse day
Dear Seer: How worried should I be about super-horrendous traffic jams in and around Pulaski County when the total solar eclipse darkens our sky for a few minutes in early afternoon Monday? — Jack
Dear Jack: It’s wholly a pleasure to hear from you, and for the opportunity to carefully read — so you don’t have to — the state’s traffic plan for the giant honkin’ solar eclipse.
Two days away.
This plan was compiled by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. It explains what traffic is expected, and how it will flow into and out of the state. Or not flow.
Our conclusion: Stay home! Watch the eclipse from the backyard!
This may not work for everyone. The eclipse doesn’t cover all of Arkansas. Its path runs roughly from Fort Smith to Mountain Home on the high side, and from Texarkana to Jonesboro on the low side. The biggest city in the path of maximum total darkness is Russellville. Bless its heart.
ArDot estimates that up to 1.5 million people will travel here from outside the state, and another 500,000 Arkansans will move into the path of the eclipse. Given that the state’s population is about 3 million, this provides a sense of the oncoming traffic jams.
An average of 2.86 people will be in each of these vehicles, ArDot figures, meaning an extra 700,000 vehicle trips into the path of totality.
Imagine all the bathroom breaks. Imagine the flat tires. Imagine the overheated radiators, the hungry children and the yelling in the front seat.
Once the eclipse is over, ArDot says in its plan, most people will shake a leg and head home, “resulting in extreme traffic volumes that far exceed the capacity of many roadways.”
A map included in the report shows the highways on which there is expected to be extreme, very high, high and significant traffic. Let’s look at the extreme and very high traffic highways.
They include Interstate 30 from Texarkana to North Little Rock, no doubt to be flooded with Texans; Interstate 40 from Fort Smith to Little Rock, no doubt to be eat up with Oklahomans; U.S. 65 from Boone County slap up to Conway, no doubt wall to wall with Missourians; Interstate 540 from the Fayetteville, etc., metro area to Alma; and scenic Arkansas 7 from Russellville to Hot Springs.
A number of mitigation strategies will be implemented. For the purpose of our friend Jack, we like the one cleverly titled “Work from Home.” That’s our plan. Let’s also call this plan, “Gas Up on Wednesday, Grocery Shop on Thursday, Cancel All Appointments on Monday.”
ArDot also plans to limit permits for oversize vehicles in days before and after the eclipse, will implement construction holidays, and has encouraged the trucking industry to take a breather.
Pulaski County is lucky in that it will have a significant eclipse. Do what we’ve done here at the DriveTime Manse: Get eclipse glasses, buy some Moon Pies, and set up lawn chairs in the driveway.
Vanity plate: HLALUYA.