Heavy eclipse traffic started early on Wednesday in Prineville as visitors traveled east for the Symbiosis festival. It subsided by early Friday, however it’s now time for residents to brace themselves for when thousands of people leave the area after the event on Monday.
Vicky Ryan with Crook County says one way Prineville hopes to ease the flow of traffic is by resetting traffic lights.
“We’re going to continue to favor the eat/west traffic so it will be at the same steady flow as we had going out on Thursday,” says Ryan. “The side traffic will turn about every 10 to 15 minutes. It could be a little but backed up for someone trying to get off of a side road. It’s best to just go to a side road with a light so you could eventually get through.”
Ryan says the early onset of incoming traffic was a surprise and the county now feels much more prepared to deal with the exodus of cars early this week. Crook County residents should anticipate traffic going through this coming Wednesday, finally subsiding early Thursday.