Eclipse traffic, South Carolina edition

August 18, 2017 6:44 AM

I had plans to stay on a barrier island east of Charleston, SC for the eclipse, but my afternoon flight from NYC to CHS was just cancelled due to weather. One option is to get on a flight to Savannah tomorrow morning and have a friend pick me up to drive to the John's Island area, but I am worried about eclipse traffic. Does anyone local have a read on what the traffic situation is expected to be like? I don't know this drive at all.
posted by this, of course, alludes to sex to Travel & Transportation (10 answers total)

Google's got you.
posted by teremala at 6:57 AM on August 18, 2017

Response by poster: Interesting! Do you know if that deals with just the day of the eclipse (if I went to Savannah it would be tomorrow)?
posted by this, of course, alludes to sex at 7:01 AM on August 18, 2017

I suspect that traffic jams will be mostly day-of. I wouldn't expect traffic Friday-Sunday to be too much worse than any random weekend. You may have more people coming in than usual, but they'll be spread out over hours and days. Not like on Monday, when everyone will be trying to get there at the same time.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:15 AM on August 18, 2017

I don't have a very good read but I think you might be okay on Saturday. A lot of the people that I'm aware of that are driving locally are doing it on Sunday. 95 might be a bit of a grind but 17 might be okay after that.

Good luck!
posted by ftm at 7:17 AM on August 18, 2017

I think everyone's been focusing on modeling day-of. Here's a nice explanation (with map) of at least one person's logic regarding travelers. They seem to feel pretty confident about Saturday/Sunday travels. (Disclaimer: I'm not local to Charleston either, but I do have significant travel plans for Sunday and am not worried about anything beyond normal traffic delays, for whatever that's worth.)
posted by teremala at 7:19 AM on August 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Here's a nice explanation (with map) of at least one person's logic regarding travelers.

I don't see much explanation here of where this comes from (And I'm hoping to sneak in that gap north of Atlanta between I-75 and I-85, so I'm hoping this random internet person knows something.)
posted by madcaptenor at 7:35 AM on August 18, 2017

I say go regardless. What is the difference what the traffic is on Saturday? Worst case, you spend an extra hour or more in the car shooting the shit with the buddy who picks you up. Then, ECLIPSE!
posted by AugustWest at 7:45 AM on August 18, 2017

I'm in Savannah. You could also take the train to Charleston from Savannah. I can't imagine it will be too bad on Saturday or Sunday. There is a convoluted longer roundabout way that lets you avoid I 95 altogether from the airport to Charleston or downtown Savannah to Charleston. Feel free to memail if you want details.

Schools in Savannah and across the river will be closed so that might add to the traffic. I am a bit concerned because I work in south Carolina about 25 miles north of Savannah and, unfortunately, I have to be at work on Monday.
posted by mareli at 8:49 AM on August 18, 2017

Charleston is probably 70 miles from Savannah as the crow flies so flights to Savannah might be very well be impacted by the same weather problems.
posted by mareli at 9:02 AM on August 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for the very useful advice! Looking at it I decided it was reasonable to do the Savannah to Johns Island drive, but unfortunately continuing weather and airport problems in NYC meant we couldn't get on any flight at all. Hope everyone else enjoys the eclipse!
posted by this, of course, alludes to sex at 12:18 PM on August 19, 2017