City of Cape, county parks, Jackson release parking information for solar eclipse

The city of Cape Girardeau and Jackson have announced parking plans for the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department stated it will be placing barricades on the east side of the intersection of Limbaugh Lane and Veterans Memorial at 8 a.m. Monday. The barricades are to direct oncoming traffic from the north to the SportsPlex parking lot for the solar eclipse viewing.

The department stated the barricades will be moved onto the west side of Veterans Memorial and Limbaugh Lane around 12:40 p.m.

“Barricades will be placed at Veterans Memorial and Jim Drury Way. All vehicles will exit Jim Drury to Limbaugh southbound,” the department stated in a news release.

The department outlined that it didn’t want people to use more than one parking spot and all parking is “first come, first serve.” The traffic will exit east onto Jim Drury Way to Limbaugh Lane.

The Cape police also stated that vehicles will be prohibited from parking on the shoulders of the area, including along Kingshighway, Limbaugh Lane, Interstate 55 and its on/off ramps.

“Do not use parking spaces to set up chairs, tents, or other items. Do not setup any item that may interfere with traffic in the parking lot. No open flame cooking or gas/electric cookers,” the department stated.

Jackson parking

There are three different watch parties in the city of Jackson that will start from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday. The city watch parties will be located at Uptown Jackson Historic District, Jackson Civic Center and Brookside Park.

According to the Jackson MO Eclipse Facebook page, the Uptown Jackson Historic District watch party will be located on South High Street between Main Street and Adams Street, and parking will be free.

The Jackson Civic Center will have several lots where people can park; and has overflow parking at Connection Point Church. The center is located at 381 East Deerwood Drive

According to the post, the Brookside Park watch party has two parking lots located right off Veterans Memorial Drive, a smaller lot off Independence Street and additional parking at Jackson City Park. Brookside Park is located at 210 Memorial Drive.

All of the parking listed is first come, first served for everyone.

Cape Girardeau County Parks

According to a Cape Girardeau County Parks release, the parks will be limited to people who only have shelter reservations on the day of the eclipse.

“Citizens with shelter reservations will be issued a pass to gain access on Monday, April 8th. The passes will be provided to the person that made the reservation and they will be responsible for coordinating passes with their guests,” the news release stated.

All of the shelters have already been reserved for the day of the eclipse and park staff will be at entrances “to limit access.”