MANSFIELD — Lt. Jason Murfield said Friday morning he wouldn’t mind an overcast day in Richland County on April 8, aka solar eclipse day.
That would make life much easier for the commander of the Mansfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol in a county that could see as many as 250,000 visitors pour in from around the country for the Monday afternoon astronomical event.
“We don’t really know what to expect in terms of traffic,” Murfield said during another county-wide eclipse planning session arranged by the Richland County Emergency Management Agency in the Futty Room at Richland County Children Services.
His troopers are responsible for 20 miles of Interstate 71 and 14 miles of U.S. 30 in Richland County, roads that could be jammed if the day is clear on an afternoon in an area which will experience three minutes and 16 seconds of total eclipse, beginning at 3:12 p.m.
“U.S. 30 and I-71 are the main routes we’re concerned about,” Murfield said. “We will have at least four to five troopers on those two routes at all times. The remaining troopers will be stationed north and south. And obviously, we will be out all weekend.
“We’re hoping for a cloudy day,” he said with a laugh.
Weather permitting, people in the path of a total solar eclipse can see the sun’s corona, the outer atmosphere, which is otherwise usually obscured by the bright face of the sun.
Elected and appointed leaders from around the county, including law enforcement and fire department officials, have been preparing for the once-in-a-lifetime event since 2022. The last local total solar eclipse was in 1806 and the next one is not until 2444.
The local effort has been led by Rebecca Owens, director of the county EMA, who accepted the post in December 2022 — just in time to ramp up eclipse preparation efforts.
“It’s two months until the eclipse. So you got two months to figure it out. But we’re hoping to do it sooner, rather than later,” Owens told the assembled group.
“We have been working diligently to update our resource list,” Owens said, adding that traffic and communications will be key issues.
“Cell phone (reception) will be very, very sketchy. There will be lots of issues with connectivity and that type of thing,” she said.
Like Murfield, Mansfield police Chief Keith Porch is planning for a potential influx of people into the city, especially with several businesses in the downtown area planning “eclipse watch” events.
“Officers will not be working any secondary details that day,” he said. “They will be dedicated to shift work. We’ll be deploying a camera trailer in the downtown area to help monitor traffic.
“(With all the planned events), that crowd could get pretty massive in the downtown area. So we want our officers in the downtown area ready for that.
“Both the first and second shifts will be called in and we will have the manning to cover that time,” Porch said.
Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero reminded the group that the county website has a section devoted to local eclipse information, including safety details (wear approved eclipse eye ware if you plan to look at the sun during the event) and details on sites designated for viewing.
“We have added amenities (to the site) so if you want to go there, you can see what’s available to you in terms of parking, restrooms, playgrounds, etc.,” he said.
Vero said he is monitoring hotels and motels and the Richland County Fairgrounds, which is offering events and camping for the entire weekend.
“To date, the Richland County Fairgrounds has not had one overnight reservation, but that’s not an indication we’re not going to have anyone in Richland County,” he said. “We’re still in February, but it’s our way of trying to measure just how busy we will get.”
Terry Carter from First Call 211 said said her communications committee has worked to unify messaging around the eclipse, “so no one is kind of going off on their own with a different take on what’s happening.”
She recommended local residents do their shopping and gas up their vehicles in advance of the weekend.
“If they can stay, shelter in place, essentially that would reduce the additional traffic and load out there in the public,” she said.
Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport Operations Supervisor Mike Moore encouraged local residents to stay away from the airport that day.
“Don’t come. We have a meeting Tuesday about what we’re going to do. Air traffic control, our (fixed base operator), we’re all going to get together to try and understand who’s gonna be coming in (and) where they’re coming from.
“With aviation, it’s very difficult. We don’t have a hotel to say, ‘OK, we know that there’s gonna be 30 planes coming in.’
“If you’ve ever been around the airport for IndyCar for Mid-Oho and such, we have planes everywhere and this is going to be worse,” Moore said.
“If you’re not coming in on a plane, please don’t come there. For those who have been at out at the airport for Airport Day, our normal parking area is in the grass. Everyone knows in April, grass just doesn’t work well (for parking),” he said.
Even with two years of planning, there is just no good way to tell how many out-of-town visitors may come to Richland County for the eclipse.
It all depends on the weather. The Farmers’ Almanac has cast a shadow on local viewing possibilities, saying, “Eclipse-watchers in IL should get good views, but IN, KY, OH may not. Showers, thunderstorms increase from OH Valley, points east.”
Delores Maly from the Richland County Astronomy Club said eclipse watchers are also weather watchers.
“If Sunday night at 10 p.m. or 6 p.m., they’re seeing clouds roll in, and the weather forecast is telling them there will be more tomorrow, they’re all going to pack up and take off,” she said.
She cautioned local law enforcement that traffic could be worse on Sunday night if the weather forecast calls for cloudy skies on Monday.