Traffic got back to normal yesterday, according to Wyoming’s Department of Transportation. Officials reported historic levels of traffic Monday, the 21, following the solar eclipse or a 68 percent increase of overall traffic compared to the five-year average for the third Monday in August — much of that concentrated in central, western, and southern Wyoming.
Doug McGee, public affairs manager for WYDOT, said visitors started entering the state in larger numbers last Wednesday, picking up each day leading to the eclipse.
"So, there were five days-worth of traffic growth... and then suddenly, apparently, they all decided it was time to leave at the same time. It took them five days to get here, but they wanted to leave at once," McGee said.
He added the state has never seen such a high volume of traffic and doesn’t expect to again. The worst concentration was along I-25 south, with all sections of the route seeing an increase of over 100 percent. McGee said the back flow didn’t stop along I-25 until around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday morning.