Impact of eclipse-chaser traffic mostly minimal in Tuscarawas County
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (April 9, 2024) – State troopers say they didn’t observe much of a change in traffic due to people going through the area before and after the eclipse Monday.
“For the most part, traffic was what I would call normal conditions,” said New Philadelphia Post Commander Lt. Johnnie Maier.
Maier says there was a backup that went for about a mile along I-77 north from vehicles taking the Strasburg exit, possibly to head north on state Route 21 to get a better view of the eclipse.
“We do have some theories that maybe folks from out of town were exiting there to go towards Wayne County,” he said.
There was one rear-end crash in that backup. However, Maier says they can’t say for sure if it was related to eclipse traffic.
“I know that we’ve been working with ODOT due to the traffic signals at that exit and have experienced some issues with backups there before Monday,” said Maier.
Maier says nobody was injured in the crash. One driver was local, and the other one was going to Cleveland to see the eclipse there.
One vehicle had to be towed from the scene, the other was still drivable.