Eclipse 2024 – Getting Ready for 2045

On Saturday August 12, 2045, starting at about 9:15 AM Pacific time in California and ending at about 1:30 PM Eastern time in Florida, the next transcontinental total solar eclipse will occur. This time totality will pass over a dozen metropolitan areas.

Directly over:????????????????????????????????????????????????? Adjacent Metropolitan Areas:

Redding, CA???????????????????????????????????????????????????? Sacramento & San Francisco, CA

Reno, NV

Salt Lake City, UT

Denver & Colorado Springs, CO

Oklahoma City, OK??????????????????????????????????????? ? Dallas, TX

Tulsa, OK???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Kansas City, MO

Little Rock, AR???????????????????????????????????????????????? Memphis, TN & New Orleans, LA

Montgomery, AL??????????????????????????????????????????? Atlanta, GA

Orlando, Tampa & Miami, FL???????????????????? ?Jacksonville, FL

The 2024 eclipse did not pass over the western USA. For the 2017 eclipse which passed over the western USA, the lack of interstate freeway corridors resulted in substantial congestion on I-5, I-15, and I-25 as the path did not directly pass over the larger metropolitan areas. In 2045, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Colorado Springs are in the path of totality which will reduce the type of impacts experienced in 2017. However, in California and the I-5 corridor, the path is over Redding but just north of Sacramento and San Francisco/San Jose which are within a three-hour drive of totality.

A significant portion of the path of totality in the central part of the USA is in areas that were in or close to totality in 2017 and 2024. Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Kansas City, Dallas, Little Rock, and Memphis are getting multiple opportunities to experience totality, except this time, the wait is 20 years. In 2045, the path will be close to the Gulf of Mexico which limits travel potential from the south. But the path of totality will engulf nearly 90 percent of Florida.

The things that worked well in 2024 and 2017 should be “pocketed” for 2045. Lessons learned from the last two eclipse events that can be carried forward to 2045 include:

• Avoiding construction lane closures on interstates between major metropolitan areas and totality
• Advance planning, collaboration and corridor management.
• Hardening of cell phone coverage in rural areas along totality so real-time traffic is real time.
• Coordination of key services in the corridors to totality – food, fuel, ?restrooms.
• Coordination on rental car supplies along the path of totality in major metropolitan areas.
• Encouraging tourism and hotel stays to avoid travel immediately after the eclipse – stay in place.
• Raising public awareness and encouraging work from home to reduce unnecessary discretionary travel.
• Increasing the number of full service (food, restrooms, camping/lodging) activities at venues along totality to avoid travel immediately following totality (art fests, concerts, farmer’s markets, etc.).

Some things that were not used extensively in the prior eclipse events that would merit greater consideration and possible advanced planning for 2045 may include:

• Active transportation investments.
• Reversible lanes/shoulder running/portable ramp meters.
• More extensive rail and bus transit.
• Electric vehicle charging along corridors approaching the eclipse from major metropolitan areas that are outside the path of totality.

In the future a few items that might have the potential to serve transportation demand during the eclipse that really were not available in 2017 or 2024 might include:

• High-speed rail (SoCal to Sac/SFO and Florida) combined with direct bus service into the path of totality.
• Better TV camera technology and coverage (Eclipse channel) to encourage more views in place, without travel.
• Automated vehicles, potentially as a means to shuttle people into the path of totality.
• Personalized air travel.

So, what does that mean for transportation planning in the coming 20 years? For one, there is time to consider how potential transportation investments might not only be useful for recurring congestion but also be designed to serve a once-in-a-generation event. That does not mean designing the transportation system for a 5-minute event, but taking the time in the regions where the eclipse will pass to potentially accelerate needed investments to be ready for use during the eclipse in the metropolitan areas listed above. Most important would be to realize that for State Transportation Improvement Plans and for Regional Transportation Plan improvements that if construction is schedule on paths to totality, the construction would best be completed before August 2045 or start after August 2025.

Another consideration would be to emphasize or prioritize types of investment (such as active transportation) which has long term community value and can be an effective means to manage eclipse travel in 2045 by reducing vehicle demand. Things such as establishing multi-use pathways, interconnecting trail systems and filling gaps in the off-road trail network in the path of totality should be studied and implemented prior to 2045.

To provide context to possible planning, here are some ideas for California and the I-5, US 101 and Lake Tahoe corridors. While these are specific to California, they are transferable ideas for other regions. By no means is this an exhaustive listing. It can be used to initiate the kind of creative thinking about how long-term infrastructure investments could be planned, prioritized and “tweaked” to better manage travel for the next eclipse event, even better than was done in 2017 or 2024. The objective is simply to better reduce the crush (micro-surge) of vehicle trips on major highways post-eclipse by whatever means possible (shuttles, delaying return trips, adding temporary capacity).

I-5 and US 101 Corridors

1. Shoulder running I-5 southbound for passenger cars only for 40 miles from Norman at the southern edge of totality south to I-505 between 9 AM to 8 PM Saturday August 12th (daylight hours)
2. Coordinating for enhanced southbound flow on SR 99W. Consider adding an auxiliary lane on I-5 southbound for ? mile from Road 8 to I-505
3. Special Amtrak service capacity out of Sacramento – north to Chico and Redding and east to Truckee/Reno, as well as out of Oregon from the north to Dunsmuir
4. Planning for events on spaces such as Tehama Fairgrounds in Red Bluff, riverfront parks in both Redding and Red Bluff and Sacramento Wildlife Refuge in Norman. Targeting provision of paths, restroom facilities, transient food, and parking to keep people off the highways for several hours after totality.
5. Wine country express bus shuttles north on US 101 toward Willits
6. Expanded campgrounds, allowing longer stays both on the US 101 and I-5 corridors
7. Special Saturday morning transit services extending SMART train north toward Willits and special Skunk train enhancements for Friday and Saturday – adding rail cars.
8. Coordinating Saturday morning bus service departing the Sacramento and Santa Rosa regions at 6 AM using existing park-and-ride lots and school buses to shuttle people to totality and back. There are 22 park-and-ride lots in the Sacramento region and over a dozen in the Santa Rosa region. Caltrans, 511.org, and RTD have excellent inventories. This could be paired with advanced parking management systems (portable dynamic message signs) on I-5 and US 101 to inform travelers of available parking. Given Saturday August 12th is a non-school day, resources exist for a one-time, one-day service to reduce vehicle travel. Destinations could include Willits County Rodeo Grounds for Santa Rosa trips and the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (using I-5) or Biggs High School (using SR 99).

Tahoe/Reno Area

1. Expanded trails into totality – Truckee River Bike Trail in Truckee (SR 89 north from Village at Palisades Tahoe to Truckee, linking through Truckee Spring to Prosser Creek Reservior and linking to Trout Creek Trail), in Reno (linking up the Crooked Mile, Tahoe Pyramid Bikeway and Mayberry Bike Path along the Truckee River from Verdi to Lockwood), and connect all Carson City’s off-road trails to a Washoe Lake loop via I-580. Consider improving the link to the Pacific Crest Trail to the Donner Pass Rest Area.
2. Where possible, consider hard shoulder running for one day (August 12, 2045) on I-80 westbound from SR 89 in Truckee west 55 miles to Applegate.
3. In Truckee, consider art fest/farmers market-style activities within the path of totality to hold travelers until evening travel.
4. Special events at major parks and UN-R athletic fields
5. Bus shuttles from Lake Tahoe resorts near totality, north to Truckee.
6. Consider school bus shuttles from Grass Valley Nevada County Fairgrounds 30 miles north to Bullards Bar Reservoir off SR 49/Marysville Road. Consider scheduling the Nevada County Fair out of totality weekend (August 2-6, 2045). Originate some of the shuttles from the park-and-rides in Auburn, an additional 25 miles (Atwood Road (22 spaces), Clipper Gap (30 spaces), (Bell Road (22 spaces), Lincoln Way (33 spaces), and Blocker Drive (68 spaces Capitol Corridor Amtrak Station and 120 in the multimodal station). Run special Capitol Corridor service early Saturday coordinated with the bus shuttles (San Jose 2 AM, Hayward 3 AM, Martinez 4 AM, Sacramento 5 AM, Rocklin 6 AM, Auburn 6:15 AM).
7. Expanded campgrounds – for example, in areas near Truckee Tahoe Airport as temporary facilities and around Prosser Lake and Washoe Lake.
8. Create a one-day exclusion for temporary food carts and expanded restrooms at Gold Run Rest Area on I-80. Consider expanding parking at the Donner Pass Rest Area on I-80 for one day.
9. Consider expanded camp/parking opportunities at Fuller Lake off SR 20 and Bowman Lake Road near Emigrant Gap (about 60 miles east of Sacramento on I-80).
10. Consider shoulder running on southbound SR 99 from south the SR 70 junction at Catlett Road 10 miles south to Elkhorn Boulevard connecting to I-5 (only four interchanges) from 9 AM to 8 PM Saturday August 12th for passenger cars only.

While it is 20 years until the next transcontinental total solar eclipse it is never too soon to start planning. The regional long-term planning horizon is typically 20 years, so this event is within that time frame. Many significant transportation investments will be made in the next 20 years that have independent value. By flexibily considering their utility and priority in serving a mega-event, such as the eclipse, we can best serve the public with greater value from such improvements than simply looking at them as elements of a capital improvements plan. This approach to comprehensive planning can expand the utility of certain programmed transportation improvements.