ASHLAND — The Ashland County EMA Director said her two main concerns for April 8 involve eye and traffic safety.
It’s why Anne Strouth, the EMA director, came to Thursday’s commissioner’s meeting donning her solar eclipse glasses. (She took them off quickly because “you can’t see anything in these.”)
“The glasses are ISO 12312-2,” she said, urging residents to only buy those glasses for viewing the solar eclipse on April 8.
The paper glasses can be purchased for $1 at the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce and various gas and convenience stores, she said.
She also urged eclipse spectators to use the glasses for the entirety of the phenomenon. In Ashland, people will start noticing something at 1:51 p.m. Totality is expected to happen at 3:08 p.m., making the area go dark for three minutes and 13 seconds.
It’s all over by 4:30 p.m., she said.
“Your solar glasses have to be worn during that whole time,” Strouth said, referring to 1:51-4:30 p.m.
Traffic congestion
When the eclipse is over, Strouth’s second priority becomes active: keeping the roads safe.
Strouth said she and other other law enforcement agencies have been hard at work planning for expected traffic congestion in the area for months.
She said law enforcement — the sheriff’s office, Ashland police and state highway patrol — will all be available in strategic locations throughout the community to facilitate the smooth flow of traffic if needed.
One of those spots includes the interchange of Interstate 71 at U.S. Route 250, she said. She also expects congestion at the intersection of U.S. Route 30 and State Route 60.
She said police will be on standby at those locations to help guide traffic if needed. Sheriff deputies will be on the road throughout the county to do the same.
Strouth encouraged residents to avoid scheduling appointments for that day, to fill up vehicle gas tanks days in advance and to buy groceries ahead of time to avoid clogging the roads.
Emergency personnel will also be on the ready, she said.
Ashland County is one of 26 counties in Ohio that are in the line of “totality.” That means the moon’s disk will be completely covering the sun’s face and the area will go dark for 3 minutes and 13 seconds.