Posted on 08/24/2017 2:10:17 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Everyone in America was planning for the solar eclipse on August 21, except, apparently, the Montana Department of Transportation.
That day, a contractor hired by MDT had scheduled a fairly major road construction project to begin on Interstate 15 near the Clark Canyon Dam. As tens of thousands of people headed north from the path of the eclipse to get home Monday around 4:30 p.m., they encountered a miles-long traffic jam that slowed traffic to a bumper-to-bumper crawl for more than an hour for some drivers.
The flow of traffic was not a problem on the northbound lane of I-15 between central Idaho and Butte except at the point where the construction project began, a roughly seven-mile stretch near Exit 44 about 20 miles south of Dillon. Because cones were on the interstate and the driving lanes were reduced from two to one in the northbound lane, a huge bottleneck ensued.
To make matters worse, temperatures soared into the 80s that day, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to cut the blistering heat, and that stretch of interstate is bereft of trees or any shady pullouts. Because the solar eclipse happened on Monday morning, traffic had trickled south into the path of the eclipse in Idaho and Wyoming over the long weekend.
When it ended, though, weary travelers were all headed back home at the same time in order to show up for work Tuesday. According to the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper, more than a million people came to Wyoming — a state with only half a million people — for the event, and the numbers in Idaho were similar. The road construction project was an extremely unwelcome, inconvenient irritation for many drivers who hoped to get home before dark.
For one Montana woman, it was inconceivable that the project was slated to begin on a day when everyone had known for months that traffic would be heavy.
Butte resident Gretchen Geller said she was stuck in traffic on I-15 for more than an hour as she was trying to return to Butte from Idaho after the eclipse. Geller said the traffic jam began in Lima and continued until they reached Clark Canyon dam. She called it “unnecessary.”
“We were trying to figure out why,” she said by phone Wednesday. “When we got there, (to where the transportation workers were working) they weren’t doing anything. Nothing was happening. It was pretty despicable. We were pretty tired.”
Geller said she saw approximately five to 10 cars drive across the median, ignoring the “emergency vehicles only” sign, to head back on Interstate 15 south because of the line of cars. She also saw a significant amount of traffic on Old Butte Highway, which runs parallel to Interstate 15.
“You never see anybody on that highway,” she said.
Late in the afternoon, cones were still up on the interstate although all the construction workers had gone home for the day. At least two Montana Highway Patrol troopers had stopped near the beginning of the jam to warn people to slow down.
The Idaho Transportation Department, unlike the MDT, put all major road construction projects on hold in anticipation of heavy traffic for the eclipse.
“To optimize safety and mobility for residents and visitors, ITD is suspending most highway construction and maintenance Saturday through Monday (Aug. 19-21) where traffic is expected to be impacted,” the ITD’s website states.
The road construction project has been under contract for about a month now, according to Montana Department of Transportation Butte District manager Jeff Ebert.
“We apologize wholeheartedly,” he said. “We’ve done (construction project delays) in the past (in anticipation of high traffic) and looked at it and probably made a bad mistake here in this regard. We’ll get 'er better next time.”
Ebert said that signs were up days in advance of the project warning drivers that construction would begin the day of the eclipse, but that was little consolation to those who came upon the snarl.
When asked if his office had discussed suspending the project in anticipation of heavy traffic, Ebert explained that, in hindsight, it would have been a good idea.
“There was some work done by our maintenance folks to get the message to travelers out,” Ebert said. “Those discussions took place. Typically, like the Fourth of July, we shut down construction during that time period. We probably should have this time. For the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, we did and then they didn’t show up.”
Ebert said that typically that stretch of interstate sees under 1,000 average daily trips, and he estimated that on Monday there were probably 1,000 cars per hour at the peak travel time.
“I’ve received a few complaints,” he said.
Heh!
We left Denver at 5AM for Casper, Wyoming.
Didn’t get home until 10:30 PM that evening.
Glad I paid for a rental vehicle.
I was in Texas in January ... it was in the 80's then. Coming from Montana I was too hot the whole week.
But the Tex Mex food, fishing and golf were fantastic!
Lol. Traffic delays are pretty rare in that part of the country.
I went to see the eclipse in Oregon, along snake river, near Idaho.
Zero traffic despite the armagedon type warnings.....a until returning that is.
Oregon decided they would take the 2 lane northbound bridge into Washington and shut one of the lanes. This caused a ten mile long backup of stop n go traffic.
Zero traffic as soon as you got across the bridge.....
I saw Oregonians abandoning their cars and walking home.
Despite that stupidity it was totally worth it for the 2:05 of totality.
Got some fantastic photos.
I was on that northbound road at that time - we watched the eclipse in Idaho, and the moment it was done, we immediately left to go back to Calgary (a 1000-km trip).
We were travelling at 90 mph (speed limit was 80 mph) and traffic suddenly stopped due to construction. We barely moved for half an hour and when we finally got into the single lane, traffic sped up to around 40-50 mph.
What was INFURIATING was they blocked off a single lane for seven miles (I measured) and it was only at very end where there was ONE worker, and he was on the SOUTHBOUND lane (which was ALSO blocked off by traffic cones).
To make matters worse, these yoyos blocked off one lane three more times before Helena, and each time, they blocked off 4-5 miles and only one of the remaining three had any workers - only ONE guy.
I commented to my kids that they are obviously government union workers.
We did get home, but it took us 12.5 hours to get back to Calgary.
Still, experiencing a totality was a life-altering experience. The partial eclipses I saw in the past were nothing compared to what I witnessed last Monday.
I submitted my vacation request today for the week before and of April 8, 2024. I want to see it again!
Someone on another thread mentioned that the difference between 99% and totality was akin to that between a kiss and sex...
The speed limit is 80 MPH and I always set may cruse control to 87.
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