CLEVELAND — It's a warning we've heard for weeks ahead of the April 8 solar eclipse in Ohio: Be prepared for very heavy traffic and lengthy delays.
But how bad is traffic really expected to be across Northeast Ohio on Monday?
“I think every road is going to be very busy," ODOT's Matt Bruning said during our eclipse streaming special Thursday night with 3News' Betsy Kling and Jay Crawford. "Think about the fact that many of these roads were built for hundreds of vehicles per day, they’re going to be seeing thousands, if not ten thousands of vehicles, on that day. It’s just going to be busy everywhere."
With Cleveland and Akron both among the locations that fall within the path of totality, we're expecting to see an influx of visitors coming to our area to experience the historic moment.
"You just can’t put seven gallons of water in a five gallon bucket," Bruning said. "That’s what we’re going to be seeing. We’re going to see a lot more people than we have capacity on the road network for because everybody’s going to be interested in it.”
He said the key is to pack some patience.
"It is going to take you a lot longer -- probably two, three, four maybe even five or six times longer -- to get to your destination once you are trying to leave the eclipse than it would, say, on a normal Monday. It’s just going to take a long time.”
RELATED: WATCH LIVE | April 8 solar eclipse in Northeast Ohio: Special coverage starts at 2 p.m. Monday
The main concern is that many will immediately hit the roads right after the eclipse ends.
“I kind of equate this to a fireworks show," Bruning explained. "Everybody kind of trickles in, and then the grand finale goes off and everyone gets in their cars at the same time and leaves. This is totally different than any other event you could even conceive. The 2016 RNC was a big deal, but that was confined to Cleveland. We’ve had World Series, we’ve had All-Star games, we’ve had other big events – but they’ve been confined to a city. This is literally multiple counties – tens of thousands of square miles of people all doing the same thing at the same time and then wanting to leave that same thing at the same time. That’s where we’re really concerned about having the big traffic congestion. That’s what we’ve heard from other states that experienced 2017 totality, is that traffic will be much, much worse than before.”
He said it's also important to make sure your gas tank is full based on reports from what happened after the 2017 in different parts of the country.
"We heard from other states we had people running out of gas while they were waiting in traffic, and that was causing additional issues," Bruning added.
His main message ahead of the potential traffic troubles?
“Enjoy the show. Come early. Stay late. Pack some patience.”
SOLAR ECLIPSE TIMES NEAR YOU
While the eclipse times will vary based on your location, here's a look at when you can expect the excitement to unfold in Akron and Cleveland.
AKRON
- Partial eclipse begins: 1:59:09 p.m.
- Totality begins: 3:14:13 p.m.
- Maximum eclipse: 3:15:38 p.m.
- Totality ends: 3:17:02 p.m.
- Partial eclipse ends: 4:29:05 p.m.
CLEVELAND
- Partial eclipse begins: 1:59:22 p.m.
- Totality begins: 3:13:45 p.m.
- Maximum eclipse: 3:15:40 p.m.
- Totality ends: 3:17:35 p.m.
- Partial eclipse ends: 4:29 p.m.
If you're elsewhere in Northeast Ohio, we've complied this list of eclipse times with dozens of different communities throughout the region.