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lucky_ducker t1_jd2m9wp wrote

Reply to comment by DataMan62 in You've seen maps of watersheds, here's a drive shed map. Imagine someone going to see the 2024 total solar eclipse. What's the shortest drive there? What are the odds of making the drive to see the eclipse? I calculated how many people will drive to the eclipse > greatamericaneclipse.com [OC] by MichaelZeiler

Word to the wise - don't plan on returning home the day of the eclipse. Get a place to stay the day before AND the day of the eclipse, and drive home the day after when the roads have cleared.

I saw the 2017 eclipse just east of Hopkinsville, KY. Afterwards the parkways were a parking lot, it took us three hours to go 30 miles to US 431. Cellular data was completely jammed so no luck using navigation apps - if you had pre-downloaded area maps, GPS might have worked, since GPS itself is passive. Gas stations at the parkway exits quickly ran out of gas - we finally found gas about ten miles north of Central City. The Ohio River bridges at Evansville and Louisville were backed up for hours; we slipped across the lesser-known bridge at Rockport on US 231 where there was no back-up.

I live and work in the Indianapolis area, and I will be advocating for the office to close at 2:00 pm that day to allow the staff to get home before the roads are clogged - the eclipse ends right around 3:15, so the afternoon commute will be virtually impossible.

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SuperCell47 t1_jd2nqhh wrote

Bingo - driving back from Tennessee to Cleveland after the 2017 was horrific. Special thanks to Cincinnati for having road work going on all along every freeway!

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