Earlier Thursday the Interstate 5 over the Grapevine was closed due to snow and ice. It is now open in both directions without California highway patrol escorts.
However, the closure brought heavy traffic to drivers on highway 101.
“Traffic has been pretty brutal we’ve hit at least 20-minute delays at least three times and it’s added about an hour to our drive time," said David Reiner.
Veronica Ochoa and her family were stuck in traffic coming from Stockton, California, and headed to Phoenix, Arizona.
“It’s been frustrating. I got off of work at three in the morning went to pick up the family. got on the road since six in the morning," said Ochoa.
If you plan to head out on the road Friday, CHP has a couple of safe driving tips.
“With the heavy traffic comes abrupt stops, so people just need to have what we like to call high visual horizon which basically keeping their eyes up and looking ahead making sure traffic is clear and not hitting the breaks too quickly if they can be avoided," said CHP public information officer Miguel Alvarez.
Heavy traffic also comes the risk of crashes.
“If you do come upon a traffic collision the best thing to do is to try to pull over and get off of the roadway if everyone is safe. Even better than that if you are able to have all parties exit the freeway that’s always a good bet," said Alvarez.
CHP also advised that if you see a crash on the side of the road, do your best to move over to your left lane and give emergency vehicles space to get to the crash.
Despite the sea of cars on the highway drivers decided to stick it through.
“This is our third pit stop, we’ve played the alphabet game, we’ve gone through the entire family playlist of music just about twice if you count both ways," said Reiner.
If you plan to head out on the road, CalTrans has a know before you go quick map app that shows real-time traffic information and can be downloaded to your smartphone.
