Updated at 1:04 p.m.
Traffic heading north through Vermont late Monday morning grew heavy and speeds slowed as eclipse chasers tried to make it to locations where they could view the total solar eclipse that afternoon.
Interstates 89 and 91 were both experiencing traffic backups in northbound lanes, particularly between Exit 4 in Putney and Exit 5 in Westminster, Mark Bosma, a spokesperson for Vermont Emergency Management, said a little before noon Monday.
Traffic was stop-and-start in the area and was not exceeding 20 miles per hour. The delays may have been exacerbated by one-lane traffic at a bridge reconstruction project between the two exits.
Exit 10 on Interstate 89 in Waterbury also had “significant” delays due to heavy traffic created by those heading north on Route 100 toward Stowe, Bosma said.
There were also delays on Interstate 89 in the northbound lanes between Exit 2 in Sharon and Exit 3 in Bethel/Royalton.
And around 12:45 p.m., New England 511 reported heavy delays and backups in the northbound lanes of Interstate 91 from North Hartland to the highway’s junction with Interstate 89. That interchange was expected to see heavy traffic through the early afternoon.
State-run welcome centers along the interstates in Sharon and Guilford had “a ton” of visitors, according to Bosma.
“They’re working to keep up,” he said, referring to staff at those locations.
Bosma said motorists should be aware there are also portable toilets on interstate pull-offs, specifically on Interstate 91 in Coventry, both north and south, and in Bradford south and Westminster south, as well as on Interstate 89 in Waterbury, north and south.
Real-time traffic updates were available at New England 511 and road closures on Vermont Emergency Management’s website.
The line for Tesla charging stations at the Price Chopper in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, just across the Vermont border, had stretched from the lot next to the grocery store out onto the main thoroughfare, Route 12A, by 11 a.m.
Asked if travelers heading north through Vermont from White River Junction would make it to a destination like St. Albans in time for the eclipse, Bosma replied, “That’s a good question.”
Kevin O’Connor and Maggie Cassidy contributed reporting.
