Ohio
Officials say Ohio drivers and out-of-state visitors successfully avoided 'post-eclipse gridlock'
Officials say Ohio drivers and out-of-state visitors successfully avoided ‘post-eclipse gridlock’
By: Tana Weingartner | WVXU
Posted on:
< < Back to
CINCINNATI (WVXU) — State transportation and law enforcement officials have a message for people who traveled within or to Ohio for the April 8 total solar eclipse: Good job!
According to a release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Ohio Department of Transportation, data indicates people followed the advice to come early and stay late, and therefore the Buckeye State avoided “the post-eclipse gridlock other states experienced.”
Gov. Mike DeWine thanked everyone involved in planning for the celestial celebrations.
“I’m grateful to all our state and local partners who spent more than two years planning for this event,” he said.
Using data from more than 200 continuous traffic count stations around the state, the Ohio Department of Transportation reports traffic volumes increased 12.8% on Sunday, fell by 4.4% on Monday — the day of the eclipse — and then went back up by 15.8% the next day.
“This data shows that Ohioans and visitors did what we asked of them, and it worked to prevent a huge surge of traffic directly following the eclipse,” said ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks in a release. “I also commend our crews for their efforts ahead of, during, and after the eclipse. It really paid off.”
The state patrol, which stepped up its presence on roads in and around the path of totality, conducted 16,285 traffic stops from Friday, April 5, through Tuesday, April 9. The agency reports traffic crashes decreased 6% compared to the same time frame the week prior. Troopers helped out 2,066 motorists with things like changing tires, giving directions, or helping folks who ran out of gas.
Traffic in the northern part of the state along the Ohio Turnpike was expected to be high. Service plaza and toll station hours were extended and gasoline and diesel fuel inventories increased.
By the numbers
ODOT reports the following data:
“The biggest increase in traffic on Monday came on State Route 31 north of Marysville where traffic was up by 71.7%, US 35 west of Chillicothe with a 67.4% increase in traffic, and SR 14 west of SR 165 to the Pennsylvania border saw a 42.8% increase.
“Within the path of totality, traffic on US 30 from Van Wert to Canton was up 13%, including a 53.4% increase west of US 224 near Van Wert. Traffic on US 23 between Chillicothe and Marion was up 11.5% with the biggest jump around Marion where traffic increased by 21.4%.
“The state’s interstates also saw increased traffic. I-71 north of US 30 saw a 21.5% bump in traffic volume, I-75 in Perrysburg was up 22.6%, and I-70 saw a 15.7% increase between I-270 and US 42. Traffic on I-74 between Cincinnati and Indiana saw traffic surge by 14.8%.
“On Tuesday, the entire I-70 corridor saw an 11.8% increase in traffic, the biggest bump in the Cambridge area where traffic volumes were up by more than 20%. Traffic on I-77 was up 11.1%, including a 20% increase in traffic south of Canton.
“The highest traffic volume increases on the Ohio Turnpike occurred on Monday, April 8, with 156,812 trips and Tuesday, April 9, with 162,381 trips. The Ohio Turnpike averages about 139,000 trips per day.”
GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.
These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.
The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.
“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven
“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.
O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.
Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
Have a question for Just Askin’? Email us.
The Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, except maybe Google.
Do you have a question you want answered? Send it to us at justaskin@enquirer.com, ideally with Just Askin’ in the subject line.
It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
-
Montana2 minutes agoMontana Vista residents confront ‘Pecos West’ developers in tense meeting
-
Nebraska8 minutes agoWhere Are Nebraska Fan’s Heads – CarrikerChronicles.com
-
Nevada14 minutes agoBillionaire Tax Refugees Flock to Ritzy Nevada Lake Town
-
New Hampshire20 minutes agoNew Hampshire mothers’ labor force participation rate – Valley News
-
New Jersey26 minutes agoNJ ex-fireman ‘ready for war’ when he launched into violent rampage triggered by breakup: prosecutors
-
New Mexico32 minutes agoPhoebe Bridgers Debuts New Music at First Show in Three Years
-
North Carolina38 minutes agoNorth Carolina man found dead after falling overboard in East TN lake: TWRA
-
North Dakota44 minutes agoFederal judge agrees to toss $28M judgment related to Dakota Access Pipeline protests