FCEMA Headquarters & Bureau of Communications has been staffed since early this morning to monitor changing conditions, issue public information and coordinate the need for additional resources.

Current updates

Traffic is increasing throughout Franklin County. I-57 and State Highways 37/14/148/154 have seen additional traffic due to vehicles detouring from the Interstate.
Traffic control officers from Police and Fire have been deployed in Christopher and Sesser. ISP Troopers have been requested to assist at those location.
FCEMA has requested assistance from West City Fire Department’s REHAB unit to provide support to traffic control efforts.
FCEMA has issued traffic safety information to the public.
A few minor accidents have been reported along State Highway 37.
No major emergency incidents are in progress at this time.

by Steve Dunford

by Steve Dunford

The following statement was issued by the Illinois State Police at 10:30 a.m.

TRAFFIC UPDATE – 08/20/17 10:30 A.M.

Traffic is starting to thicken on all of the south bound entrances into the area. Illinois Routes 37, 127, 148, U.S. 51, and Interstate 57 are experiencing high volumes of traffic.

We encourage motorists to completely focus on their driving and arrive safely!

By talking to local officials, state route 154 is starting to develop some heavy traffic between I-57 and State Route 148 in Sesser.

Most motorists are taking 148 down to Christopher and getting on State Route 14.  From there they are taking US-51 into Carbondale.  Traffic is getting to be very heavy in Sesser and Christopher.

In Zeigler, traffic is flowing on 148 without traffic control.

I will keep you informed of any updates.  Authorities before this event predicted the heaviest traffic here in Franklin County will be after the eclipse.  Please follow the webstie to keep informed.

Any information passed along from authorities or the public will be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

by Steve Dunford

Franklin County Emergency Management director Ryan Buckingham, reported about ten minutes ago, heavy traffic on Interstate 57 in the county.  Please take an alternate route.

At this time I am unsure of the condition of Route 37.  At this time, Route 148 at the Zeigler 4-way is clear.

Further updates will be provided as information becomes available.

 

by Steve Dunford

There were pleas from a few elected officials to get out and about this weekend.

The projections of hundreds of thousands of people were off base.  There have been tie ups of traffic in the Pacific Northwest in which is guaranteed no cloud cover.  I wonder if national and international tourists changed plans.

The search of eclipse glasses seem to be the big story here in Franklin County.  Last night, some were going for as high as $50 on some yard sale social media sites.

There is a chance of storms today that could hurt the amount to this area.  The Shawnee National forest had the most people in Southern Illinois, as the Garden of the God’s recreation area had to be closed with the weekend crowd.

The strip of Western Kentucky from Paducah to the Fort Campbell area experienced a lot of tourists, especially in the Land Between the Lakes area.

The Marion Republican reported an increase in traffic at Veteran’s Airport, formerly Williamson County Airport.  Scanner traffic was busy with planes landing yesterday morning.  They are using one runway dedicated to parking planes.

I will continue to monitor the situation, as people began to leave the area this afternoon, as traffic on northbound I-57, and State Routes 148 and 37 could be heavy.