Eclipse Traffic On Monday Was Hectic In Jefferson County

(JEFFERSON COUNTY) The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received a high number of phone calls concerning the high volume of traffic on county roadways on Monday due to the eclipse. Sheriff Dave Marshak says there wasn’t much that could be done to help the situation.

Sheriff Marshak says while Jefferson County was the destination in 2017, this time around everyone was going further south to be in the area of total darkness, so it was a different type of traffic issue.

Traffic on Monday morning going south on I-55, and later in the afternoon and evening going northbound was congested, to say the least. The influx of travelers trying to get south of Jefferson County also affected several other roadways like Highways 21 and 30, as well as U.S. 61-67, and even east and west roads such as A Highway, and several others. Festus City Administrator Greg Camp says the people trying to make their way through the quad cities were unique.

Crystal City City Administrator Jason Eisenbeis traveled to Columbia, Missouri for a scheduled stop at Mizzou, and was coming back into the St. Louis area in the afternoon.

Pevely City Administrator Andy Hixson says he heard about the traffic issues in the area, but he and his family took in the eclipse in Poplar Bluff and certainly enjoyed the experience.

Despite the traffic backups and the amount of time it took to get back to normal, there were a few traffic accidents in the area, but without any significant injuries.