These articles appeared in the Cornish Guardian, Nov. 5 (Guy Fawkes' day!), as part of a bumper Eclipse pullout.
All Roads Will Lead West
... Congestion on roads in Devon and Cornwall will be eased by the fact that all roadworks will be suspended for a two week period from August 4 next year. It is hoped that the roadworks on the M5 and M4, the main arterial routes leading to the two counties, will also be minimised to prevent major hold ups before people even arrive.
Although short stretches of temporary one way traffic might be implemented, like that imposed in Dobwalls {notorious bottleneck - Tracey} at peak weekends during the summer to allow a faster response by emergency vehicles, there are no plans to establish a massive one way system involving the A38 and the A30. Extra electronic road signs informing drivers of the traffic situation could also be placed as far north as Birmingham and as far east as Swindon. {Birmingham is going on for 200 miles away - Clint}
Adrian Ruck, from the AA, said the week of the eclipse stood to be one of the busiest ever on the roads of the South West. "The levels of traffic will be almost unprecedented but without a crystal ball it is hard to accurately predict the amount of traffic. "We hope that large numbers of people will be sensible and travel down to the West country by public transport if they possibly can." He explained that an extra 50 AA patrols would be drafted in from other parts of the country to act as "troubleshooters", allowing broken down vehicles to be fixed as quickly as possible.
To entertain visitors roadside shows could also be arranged at particular bottle-necks in the region like the A30 at Goss moor and the A38 through the Glynn Valley.
Air traffic is likely to be busy with commercial airlines and charter firms all flying people around and into the region. A number of airliners have booked slots at RAF St Mawgan near Newquay while the base also has the facility to deal with the expected increase in the number of helicopter flights.
Thousands more people will be arriving in Devon and Cornwall by train. Wales and West, which run local services in the region, is to use the model of the Tall Ships race in Falmouth to plan for the provision of additional services for the eclipse. While Great Western Trains, which runs the service from London to Penzance, intends to run 27 additional trains in the week of the eclipse ...
Orient Express Blazes Eclipse Trail Through the Westcountry
The world famous Orient Express train will be running from Exeter to Falmouth to mark the eclipse it has been revealed.
Dorchester-based Heritage Touring wants to run the trips from the city's St David's Station, stopping during the journey to view the eclipse. The train will use carriages built in the early 1960s and refurbished in the Pullman style, with first class restaurant cars.
Plymouth City Council is considering chartering a plane if the sun is obscured by cloud. The aircraft would fly above the cloud base and film the eclipse, relaying pictures to screen in the city below. Some skywatchers will be booking boats along the Devon and Cornish coasts and following the path of the moon as it passes in front of the sun.
