While Lewis County residents won’t be in the best position to view Monday’s total eclipse, area residents will likely be affected by travelers heading to Oregon for the event, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
“The state of Oregon … is estimating 1 million people will enter the zone of totality,” said Bart Treece, Southwest Region communications manager for the WSDOT.
It is unknown where all of those hopeful eclipse-viewers will come from, but many will likely go there by Interstate 5, impacting traffic through Southwest Washington.
The total eclipse itself is predicted to last only a few minutes on Monday, but travelers in the area should expect heavy traffic from Friday through Aug. 22, according to the WSDOT.
Treece said Washington drivers should avoid last-minute trips south in an effort to get a better view of the eclipse.
“Getting from Vancouver to Portland on a Monday morning, it’s tough enough,” he said.
Other affected highways will likely include Interstate 82 in Benton County, U.S. Highway 97 in Klickitat County, state Route 14 at the Columbia River Gorge, U.S. Highway 197 at Dallesport, Oregon, Interstate 205 from Clark County to Portland, the Lewis and Clark Bridge in Longview, state Route 4 from Longview to Naselle, state Route 401 from Naselle to Dismal Nitch and U.S. Highway 101 from Ilwaco to Astoria.
However, since the last total eclipse in the area happened in 1979, the WSDOT and other agencies are unsure exactly what to expect, Treece said.
“We don’t know where these people are going to go in Oregon, we don’t know what time they’re going to go, we don’t know when they’re going to go back,” he said.
In light of the uncertainty around travel plans, the WSDOT is urging drivers to be prepared. Travelers should have a full tank of gas and make sure their vehicle is in good working order, pack food and water and expect to be on the road longer than usual, Treece said.
They should also take a few eclipse-specific precautions, he added.
“If you’re driving, it’s going to be dark,” he said. “We don’t want people pulling off the side of the highway to look at the eclipse.”
Vehicles pulling to the side of freeways to view an eclipse could cause an obstruction as well as a risk of a brush fire if they pull into a grassy area off the road, according to the WSDOT.
While he qualified the suggestion as a “no-brainer,” Treece noted drivers should not wear eclipse glasses while behind the wheel, as they are much darker than normal sunglasses.
“We’re trying to get people to start thinking about these things,” he said.
For more information from the WSDOT, go to http://wsdotblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/i-will-survive-great-american-solar.html.
