DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) -- During its meeting Thursday night, the Riverside City Council voted to give the city manager the ability to declare a “state of emergency” ahead of Monday’s total solar eclipse.
Unlike similar declarations made in advance of the eclipse, the Riverside state of emergency will continue for several days after the eclipse, beginning Friday, April 5, at midnight, and running until 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 12.
The purpose of the declaration is to maximize emergency preparedness and management for the eclipse while minimizing the impact of the massive surge of expected visitors on the city on Eclipse Day.
Both the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and Eastwood MetroPark are expecting a large number of visitors.
"Our community’s top priority is to ensure the health, welfare, and safety of the public, as well as good order before, during, and after the event," said City Manager Josh Rauch. "All departments will be out in full force to help manage traffic and roadways on April 8."
To help deter camping in city parks in advance of the eclipse, Riverside has closed the parks to vehicles.
"If folks are congregating in areas where it's obstructive or where they're not supposed to be," said Rauch, "then, yeah, we have the ability to go approach them and say, hey, not just because of the ordinances that are obviously already in effect, but because of the nature of this event and everything else, we need folks to move to particular areas."
Riverside is preparing for heavy traffic and land closures along Airway, Harshman and Springfield Street. There will also be temporary signs and barriers up to keep people away from the south end of town on Woodman Drive and to push traffic to I-675.
Much of the planning is centered on the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
“What do we do if everybody’s trying to get in at the Air Force Museum and they’re telling people they can’t be there anymore,” said Rauch. “They’re turning people away at the gate like…
“We have to plan for that.”