Amgen Bike Race Traffic Jam Catches Drivers By Surprise

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon, cars were stopped at one of the busiest intersections in Walnut Creek.

Eastbound Ygnacio Valley Road was closed at Oak Grove Road at 1:55 p.m. as dozens of Amgen bicycle racers came storming down Oak Grove Road and made a right turn to go up the Ygnacio Valley hill.

Dozens of cars got caught in the sudden traffic jam, unaware they driving straight toward a police roadblock.

CHP officers allowed cars to turn left on Oak Grove Road, but cars were not allowed to drive forward until 2:15 p.m.

Cars backed up on the three eastbound lanes to Via Monte, the next intersection just west of the Encina Grande shopping center.

Horns would occasionally honk from drivers who couldn't figure why cars weren't moving when the light turned green.

Other motorists were edging over to the left turn lane to try to get out of the quagmire.

Jamie Gargalikis was taking a break from her workplace in Walnut Creek and driving to pick up her two children at Highland Elementary School when she ran into the traffic mess.

She tried to call the school on her cellphone to tell them she'd be late, but she wasn't able to get through before traffic was let through.

Gargalikis had not heard about the race. She was told by a nearby driver about the cause of the jam.

"I'm a little frustrated and I'm a little anxious," she said.

James Burton was a few cars back. He didn't know about the race and the road closure either.

He was driving his 2-year-old daughter to their Concord home. The little girl was sick and had been seen by a doctor at the Kaiser facility in the Shadelands office park.

Burton said at first he thought there had been an accident, but then another driver told him about the race.

"It is what it is," he said with a shrug.

Dawn Filiberti was making the best of it. She and her husband were headed to their home on Morgan Territory Road when they came to a dead stop.

Filiberti got out of her car to watch the bicyclists from afar.

She and her husband were unaware their route home was the same route the bicyclists were taking. When they were informed of that, they decided to think about another way to get to their house.

Once traffic was let through, it didn't take long for the jam to disappear.