Holiday traffic snarled heading south through Gorge Monday, delays last throughout evening

Backup on I-15 south of Mesquite Sept. 5, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Christina Schlaffman via Facebook, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Holiday traffic through the Virgin River Gorge was slowed to a crawl well into the evening on Labor Day.

Click to enlarge. Map shows heavy traffic in the Gorge southbound between Cedar Pocket and the Little Jamaica bridge. Image accessed approximately 5:30 p.m. Sept. 5, 2022 | Image courtesy of ADOT, St. George News

Trooper Tom Callister of the Arizona Department of Public Safety texted St. George News with an update on gorge traffic at 5:45 p.m. Although he was in a remote area and could not call, he wrote the following text:

“There is still a backup of approximately 6 miles with about an hour delay southbound,” Callister wrote. “We expect heavy traffic for at least the next couple of hours and then should clear up pretty quickly.”

The Facebook page Pain in the Gorge had the following post Monday evening.

“Traffic from St. George to Mesquite on 9/5/22 5:00 pm is very bad. Back up starts at Cedar Pocket and is a solid line of cars moving 5 miles an hour to Littlefield. No accident just heavy traffic. Going North is clear sailing.”

Holiday traffic was expected to be heavy over the weekend.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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