Some people were stuck for six hours, running out of gas. Others got so frustrated that they turned around and took a flight out of Palm Springs just to avoid the traffic.
So what was the problem?
Apparently, Caltrans was repairing several slabs of concrete on Interstate 10 during an overnight project, but dug up too much of the freeway. To make matters worse, Caltrans said there was a problem getting the concrete from their supplier. And for some reason, Caltrans never put out a public alert to warn drivers.
"This is something that we're not happy about, the department is extremely apologetic, we're sorry," said Caltrans' Terri Kasinga.
Caltrans finally finished re-paving 14 hours behind schedule.
"This whole incident will be investigated, and has been investigated, and we're looking at alternatives and measure to put in place so when something like this does happen again, we have a contingency," Kasinga said.
In the meantime, Caltrans said this project is on hold and no construction is planned in the area for the holiday weekend.
