With the city located in the optimal viewing area of the total solar eclipse, Republic Services has announced that they will be beginning collection routes on April 8, 2024, two hours earlier than normal to mitigate the impact of heavy traffic. This will only impact residents with Monday collection services. The trucks used for collection are significantly larger than most of those that operate on local streets and maneuvering them around the additional cars and foot traffic could potentially place drivers and pedestrians at risk. In addition, the traffic volume increase could cut off access to some areas requiring service.
Normal collection times will resume on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.
A total solar eclipse is a rare and spectacular event. On average, one happens somewhere on the Earth once every 1.5 years and only 21 solar eclipses have crossed the lower 48 in the entire history of the United States. On April 8, 2024, the centerline for the path of the next total solar eclipse will dissect Shelby County, entering in the vicinity of Fort Loramie at approximately 3:09 p.m. and existing near Botkins at about 3:14 p.m.