By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
If you venture past your driveway April 8 in Arkansas, you may be sharing the road with a lot of out-of-staters. On the other hand, there won’t be any highway construction, and there’s a good chance there won’t be any school buses where you are.
Those were some of the takeaways from a press conference March 4 hosted by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and cabinet officials about the upcoming solar eclipse.
I’m sure you’ve heard about this. If not, boy, you will.
On the afternoon of April 8, the moon will completely obscure the sun for about four minutes. The eclipse will occur along a path of totality stretching across nearly two-thirds of Arkansas from its southwestern to its northeastern corners. Ninety-four percent of the state will experience at least a partial eclipse.
The last time Arkansas was in the path of totality was 1918, so unless you are about 106 years old, this will be your first chance to see an eclipse here. Before that, one occurred in 1834. The next total eclipse visible here will be in 2045.
The path of totality stretches from Texas along an arc through Arkansas and continues to Maine.
How many visitors? A lot
Sanders didn’t want to predict how many people will choose to make Arkansas their viewing destination, but she noted that estimates have ranged from 300,000 to 1 million. She said the eclipse “has the potential to be one of the largest tourism events in our state’s history.” The Arkansas Department of Transportation’s (ARDOT) traffic management plan anticipates the number could reach 1.5 million, while 500,000 Arkansans could travel in-state. The 26 state parks within the path of totality were already at 89% occupancy as of the press conference. Russellville has been selected as one of the top 10 locations to view the eclipse by Astronomy.com, while Outside magazine suggests viewing the eclipse on the Buffalo National River as one of its seven most adventurous ways to experience the event.
However, Sanders noted that factors outside the state’s control, like the weather, could affect the numbers. Clouds disappointingly obscured the eclipse in parts of Arkansas in 1918, according to ar-eclipse.info.
For a governor who has made outdoor recreation and tourism a focus – in fact, she put her husband in charge of it – the eclipse represents a huge opportunity as well as a challenge.
It’s an opportunity because a lot of visitors will be coming here, they’ll stay a little while, they’ll spend some money, and then hopefully they’ll come back. State officials have been trying to roll out the welcome mat. Secretary of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Shea Lewis said he had done 27 satellite media interviews with outlets from Seattle, Boston, Houston and elsewhere. Sanders participated in an hour’s worth of interviews.
Lewis’ department has been talking with Arkansas communities about the eclipse since 2021. Events will be held across the state. For more information about those, go to arkansas.com/eclipse.
Schools, highway department prepare
Meanwhile, other state agencies are getting ready for the big day. Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva said his agency has been working with schools to prepare them for “this wonderful science experiment.” Through a partnership with Entergy, the department is deploying roughly a million eclipse-viewing glasses to schools, and it is working with the state library system to deploy more than a million glasses to local libraries.
At the same time, schools are preparing for the eclipse’s traffic challenges. Oliva said 103 school districts won’t be holding classes that day.
Other agencies are preparing for traffic problems. The aforementioned state parks will have visitation and vehicle thresholds, so don’t plan on just driving to the nearest one on April 8.
ARDOT Director Lori Tudor said her highway department began planning for the eclipse two years ago. It has scheduled a construction holiday where there will be no lane closures or active work zones April 5-9. ARDOT also has been working with the Arkansas Trucking Association to limit oversize and overweight loads traveling through the state.
If necessary, traffic will be detoured onto parallel routes. Arkansas Highway Police and ARDOT staff will be stationed with gasoline, food, water and emergency aid. Rest areas and welcome centers will be stocked with extra supplies, first aid kits and medical equipment. The IDrive Arkansas website will have updated traffic information.
Some might say this is a lot of trouble for a few minutes of midday darkness. But these wonderful science experiments don’t come along very often, so let’s enjoy this one. And if you’re a student, school employee or highway constructor, enjoy your day off.
Again, for more information, go to arkansas.com/eclipse.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 16 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.