Oglebay Park has begun their annual Festival of Lights for the holiday season, however, what does that mean for the everyday traveler? Traffic backed up for miles on civilian streets, gallons of gas wasted, and a line down the highway could be in your future. For people all over the east coast of America, Oglebay’s Christmas light attraction is well known, and is visited by thousands of people yearly. Although this Christmas festivity has became a tradition for many families, it has been the leading cause in holiday traffic around Wheeling for many years. Everybody wants to make it home for the holidays, but with many cars stuck in line on public roads, it leads to traffic that backs up wheeling citizens and even causes some residents to take a longer way home, just to avoid the long wait time in traffic. With gas prices hiking up and a hefty Christmas schedule, the Festival of Lights causes many wheeling drivers to change their usual route during the Christmas season. Each year the festival continues to grow, and although it has great commercial impact for Wheeling, as the economic growth continues so does bumper to bumper traffic.
Oglebay Vice President of Operations Rodney Haley shares that as the Festival continues to grow, they look over the layout yearly to try and prevent this issue.
“We look at the show constantly and make changes on an annual basis and as technology advances and is available we also make changes from that standpoint. We work very closely with Google maps and other mapping systems to help,” said Haley.
Haley explains that controlling traffic is not as easy as some may seem and that it is a key factor to the layout of the lights yearly. Although, park executives are doing their best to keep the flow of traffic moving, it doesn’t stop complaints from locals rolling in.
Oglebay employee and avid Festival of Lights worker, Sarah Seivertson, shares her thoughts on the matter, and how it impacts the parks.
“I get complaints about the traffic all the time, because people sometimes just want to go through and get back to their homes, and they can’t because of all the traffic and they don’t even want to look at the lights,” said Seivertson.
Seivertson explains that many drivers get fed up with the traffic on their way home. Many aren’t even in the parks to see the lights, and are just trying to pass through to get through their destination. There are many homes and housing plans surrounding the parks, and many have to plan ahead for the Christmas chaos.
Wheeling citizen, Lucelus Swartz, lives right next to the Oglebay parks and conveys the stress of traffic and the impact the festival causes.
“It’s a very big inconvenience, and it goes way down national road because the stop lights on the road are backed up all the way to the highway…If its at night in the midst of December than you can be waiting up to two hours,” says Swartz.
Dealing with this kind of traffic nightly can cause a strained relationship between big business and town residents. Especially when simple signage, and detours from the city office or even Oglebay changing the route of lights to offer up more space for traffic flow.
Rodney Haley, shows a different perspective of this issue and shows how although it is inconvenient, the lights are aiding growth all over Wheeling.
“ This is our 41st year and every person that comes through here to see the lights, or the majority, they’re eating, they’re snacking, they’re buying gas, they’re shopping . Yeah some of that is down here at Oglebay, but some of it is done at Sheetz, and all the other local businesses on the path and things like that, so it is an economic driver not only for Oglebay but also for the Ohio valley.”
Whether travelers are buying a winter mug at the Glass Museum and gift shop or getting gas from Sheetz, they are boosting economics in the area. This Christmas, Lights traffic may disrupt locals’ plans, but it is a positive economic outcome for the statistics of Wheeling.
The Festival of Lights is one of West Virginia’s most beautiful winter attractions, the festival grants the city of Wheeling economic opportunities that aren’t presented other times of the year. There are many ways to solve the traffic problem, whether it be a detour or an alternative route, the city office needs to devise a plan to advocate for citizens around the area. During the Christmas season, time and money is everything. Help those who are affected by dangerous lines of traffic, everyone deserves to get home safe for the holidays.
