City, state officials ponder solutions to expected traffic congestion

With just 46 days left until the Aug. 21 solar eclipse passes over Jefferson City, state and city officials are making final preparations to handle the crush of visitors expected to hit the city.

The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau held its monthly meeting Thursday night to update the public on a schedule for festivities surrounding the eclipse. With the clock ticking, city officials feel they're almost prepared for the influx of visitors, but are still figuring out how to handle traffic that day.

This will be the first total solar eclipse, where the sun is completely blocked out by the moon, visible from Missouri since 1492. Eugene Vale, an interpretive research specialist with Missouri State Parks, said total solar eclipses are not that rare globally. They happen all the time. It's rare though that humans get the chance to see them.

"In order to see one you've got to be under that little spot," Vale told a crowd of about 40 people. "That little spot is about 70 miles across for this eclipse. And that little spot is often over the ocean."

He said it's even rarer when residents of cities like Jefferson City don't have to leave home to see eclipses.

"Most folks who are eclipse chasers charter ocean liners," Vale said. "They fly. They go to the Arctic Circle. The farmer in northern Missouri doesn't need to charter an ocean liner. He can ride in his pickup."

The eclipse will take place at 1:15 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21. It's just the first of three solar eclipses that will be visible from Jefferson City over the next seven years, but it may also be the most spectacular, he said. The total eclipse this year will pass directly over Jefferson City, leaving the city in darkness for two minutes, 29 seconds.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in Jefferson City on Oct. 14, 2023, and another solar eclipse will also be partially visible from Jefferson City in April 2024. Southeastern Missouri will be completely covered by the 2017 and 2024 total eclipses, Vale said.

"I laugh every time I hear someone say it's a once in a lifetime experience," he said. "It's just part of the weird way all those things line up."

Jill Snodgrass, the event coordinator for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the city is planning for approximately 40,000 visitors to come to Jefferson City over three days surrounding the eclipse. Hotel rooms for dates around the event sold out months ago.

Most festivities will take place at the North Jefferson City Recreation Area because it offers one of the best views of the eclipse in the city and has ample room for parking and camping. Festivities kick off Saturday, Aug. 19 with the Hotter N Hell 5K Fun Run. A corn maze in the shape of a solar eclipse will be in North Jefferson City near the Noren Access.

A mini-carnival with events for kids will also take place in north Jefferson City.

A ticketed brunch is set from 10 a.m.-noon. Sunday at Capitol Plaza Hotel, featuring Lebanon native and current NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins.

NASA is bringing its Journey to Tomorrow trailer to Jefferson City for the eclipse. The trailer is essentially a rolling museum. There's no cost to view the exhibits in the trailer, which will be open 1-5 p.m. Sunday and Monday.

Six different bike rides will also take place during the eclipse weekend.

Missouri could be the third most visited state on the day of the eclipse, trailing only South Carolina and Tennessee, according to greatamericaneclipse.com. Those states are closer to large cities on the East Coast, but may not have views as good. The website expects 322,000-1.3 million visitors to flood Missouri for the eclipse.

City officials, Missouri Department of Transportation Officials and the Missouri Highway Patrol are finalizing plans to deal with the Aug. 21 traffic congestion. CVB Executive Director Diane Gillespie expects those plans to be finalized in the next few weeks.

Jefferson City Public Schools will be in session Aug. 21, but the city is still waiting to see if state employees will be working in Jefferson City that day.

"If they're not, then that opens up a whole lot of parking and makes life a little bit easier," Gillespie said. "We're all coming together and trying to put it together."