Cheyenne Police Expect Eclipse Crowds To Look Like CFD

A spokesman for the Cheyenne Police Department says that while the department doesn't have any special plans for this weekend leading up to Monday's solar eclipse, the crowds in the city may remind people of Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Officer Kevin Malatesta says police are bracing for increased traffic, with local hotels, motels, and restaurants likely to be extremely busy. Malatesta says that while police will be out in force, they have no special plans in terms of shutting down streets or certain areas of town to deal with the expected influx of people.

In general, he says the department will be following "standard operating procedure."

Darren Rudloff of Visit Cheyenne said in early June that most hotel and motel rooms in the city had already been booked at that time for the weekend before the eclipse.

While Cheyenne will not experience a total eclipse on Monday, it is within driving distance of Casper and other areas that will see a total eclipse. This will be the first time since 1918 that a total eclipse will be seen in the Cowboy State.

No one knows exactly how many people will visit the state for the event, but estimates have ranged between 300,000 to over a half a million. There are even some estimates that the state's population of about 585,000 people could roughly double by Aug. 21.