Travel Through Michigan’s ‘Eclipse Zone’ Was Just as Bad as Feared

With one tiny sliver of Michigan near Monroe and the Ohio line at Toledo at totality during the Great North American Eclipse of 2024, police in the region were expecting heavy traffic - and the eclipse delivered.

Traffic cameras in the Monroe area on Interstate 75 show back-ups along the busy corridor.

At one point Monday afternoon just after totality, the 17 mile ride from north of Monroe to the Ohio line was taking up to 38 minutes of travel time. The travel camera still above shows southbound traffic on I-75 in Monroe County.

It was a similar story northbound on I-75 coming from Ohio. At the state line, the northbound trip to I-275 and M-85/Fort Street were running nearly double the standard times. 19 miles to the I-275 split took 39 minutes while the 27 miles to M-85 would cost you 50 minutes.

The state's MiDrive website was simply reporting an ominous hazard of 'Mainline Congestion' along I-75 through Monroe County for 9 miles of crawling traffic.

READ MORE: No One Can Agree What the Speed Limit is on This Busy Michigan Freeway

The one city in Michigan that was in true totality was Luna Pier. Residents there were so concerned about an influx of people in town, they begged the mayor to 'shut down the eclipse.' Turns out he couldn't do that - no matter his mayoral powers.