April 17, 2024
SDG COUNTIES, Ontario – SDG Counties saw an increase of thousands of vehicles in our region during this month’s total solar eclipse.
SDG Counties’ transportation department set up traffic counters at 16 locations on county roads to measure the number of vehicles transiting our region as eclipse-viewers visited on April 8.
Typically SDG Counties sees an average of 45,342 vehicles per day on the southern portion of our road network – but that number jumped to 57,887 for the eclipse – an increase of 28 per cent, or some 12,545 vehicles.
It should be noted that Highway 138, which is administered by the Province of Ontario, is not included in this breakdown – but did see a swarm of vehicles on eclipse day. This suggests the number of vehicles that visited our region is likely higher than 12,545 SDG Counties has identified.
SDG Counties prepared in advance of the eclipse, actively encouraging residents to enjoy the spectacle from home to make way for the thousands of people who were expected to visit our region. The strategy worked, because while there was a significant increase in traffic in our region, slow downs were kept to a minimum.
“Our road network is one of the largest municipally-administered network in Ontario,” said Derek McMillan, SDG Counties transportation manager. “We experienced an increase in volume, and there were hot spots on Highway 138, as well as several county roads where we saw some delays – but nothing that was cause for concern.”