Construction on LAX's People Mover creates major traffic snarl

Construction on the Automated People Mover project at Los Angeles International Airport created major traffic delays on Sunday, a day where streets were already heavily impacted by the LA Marathon. 

Airport officials said that in order to facilitate work on the project, there would be a temporary overnight closure on eastbound lanes of Century Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and Airport Boulevard, as well as westbound lanes between Airport Boulevard and Vicksburg Avenue from Saturday evening to 7 a.m. on Sunday. 

However, the construction continue through the night and into early Sunday, creating the massive snarl that impacted thousands of travelers. 

"Traffic is always bad here, but today was, you know, next level," said Pablo Gomez.

He's an Uber driver who was one of the many people stuck in the massive gridiron that spanned from Sepulveda Boulevard to the airport terminals on Sunday. 

"We're just looking at how many people were at LAX, how many people were just getting out of their cars with their suitcases," Gomez recalled. "Some people running."

For those that did stay in their cars, like Christopher Rees, it took nearly 50 minutes to travel just under two miles. 

"It took maybe an hour and a half to go to one side to the other," he said. 

Despite the airport's report that police would be in the area to help the flow of traffic, prior to the backup, Gomez said that wasn't the case.

"There was no police," he said. "There was no traffic control, there was no nobody that was trying to mitigate some of that — that chaos. We were all left on our own."

At about 3 p.m., officials said that normal traffic had resumed in the area, but that some flight times would be impacted because of the traffic buildup. 

Travelers are advised to contact their carrier for information.