Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition (NITTEC) on Tuesday morning outlined a number of protocols it will be dealing with this coming Monday with the Total Solar Eclipse set to sweep through Western New York.
Also joining NITTEC officials on Tuesday included officials from New York State Police, the State Department of Transportation, AAA of Western and Central New York and the NFTA.
One of the key goals that NITTEC will be assisting with in the region during the eclipse will be the coordination with the management of operations. Working with all the various agencies throughout the region, NITTEC will be constantly monitoring the highways and major roadways, 24/7 in Western New York with about 160 highway cameras.
In addition, overhead message boards on major arteries like the New York State Thruway, the Kensington Expressway, etc., and other message boards at ground level have been flashing messages about the eclipse since March 27.
"We're here 24/7, we're monitoring, we're in direct communications with all the various agencies," said Athena Hutchins, Executive Director of NITTEC during Tuesday's press briefing. "We will be throughout this event, we're going to be changing message signs as we need to as conditions change."
NITTEC also makes their traffic cameras on all of the area's major highways available for the public's viewing either on their website, or on their mobile app. Anyone can check in on those cameras to view conditions of the roads before heading out on April 8.
Hutchins anticipates the influx of traffic to start by Friday and continue to increase in the days leading up to Monday's eclipse. The anticipation is also after the eclipse for people to try to leave at the same time, which is why Hutchins is advising people stay where you are immediately after the eclipse and enjoy any activities so to avoid some of the traffic issues.
In addition, Hutchins says if you happen to know any alternate routes to the various destinations to-and-from where you're going, you might want to consider knowing what those are to better alleviate traffic in the higher traveled area.
"The most popular routes are going to be the heavily trafficked routes, but if you know an alternate route into Niagara Falls, Outer Harbor, I encourage you to recognize what those are, be prepared to be able to change if you need to and be flexible," she said. "Be patient is a [phrase] I've heard quite a bit, and I think that's a message for the traveling public to be patient with drivers from out of the region."