Drivers faced major traffic delays Tuesday after two separate shooting investigations disrupted Highway 50 during the morning and afternoon commutes.
The afternoon disruption forced Highway 50 to close between Howe Road and Watt Avenue, affecting drivers including Dimitri Mirjanovic, who lives near the Watt Avenue onramp.
Mirjanovic had plans for Tuesday night, but said they were disrupted by the closure. He said it took him an extra 90 minutes to get home from downtown Sacramento.
“The traffic, it was really bad,” Mirjanovic said.
“I had a quite a few little errands and plans that are definitely tarnished now, but yeah… it’s crazy. This stuff doesn’t happen that often out here,” he said.
Highway 50 was shut down starting around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Westbound drivers started moving again around 4:15 p.m., with one eastbound lane opening around 4:30 p.m. The remaining eastbound lanes did not start to reopen until around 7:15 p.m.
Ella Lopez, a student at Sacramento City College, was coming home from class when she encountered the traffic. She tried to get around the closure but said it still took her an extra hour to get home.
“It took me forever to get home, it did, it was crazy,” Lopez said.
“All the side streets are flooded with people just trying to get around it. Just trying to escape the blockage, the road blockage,” she said.
Tuesday morning, drivers on Highway 50 faced another major disruption.
A pursuit and officer-involved shooting near Hazel Avenue closed westbound lanes for several hours, delaying people on their way to work.
Ash Sherma said a trip to his that usually takes about seven minutes took 45 minutes Tuesday.
“Usually we take like seven minutes to get to my store. And today, it’s huge traffic… it takes like 45 minutes. And yeah… it’s not good bro,” Sherma said.
Watch Also: Police confirm Howe Avenue shooting and Highway 50 standoff are linked