HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Road repairs near the intersection of Cox and Nuckols Roads in Glen Allen prompted Henrico Police to advise drivers avoid the area. Police advised using West Broad Street as an alternate route. Scroll down for live updates on this developing story.
A water main break near Cox Rd. was fixed by the Department of Public Utilities on Monday, but road repairs extended into Tuesday morning. Officials with the Publis Works Department said the break damaged a 350 foot stretch of Cox Road so badly that cars could not drive on it.
Detour signs were posted; however, officials said traffic overwhelmed those detours, which caused major back ups.
Some drivers reported sitting in traffic for nearly two hours. Four Henrico County school buses, loaded with children, were more than 45 minutes late to school on the first day of class because of the delays.
Residents and workers in the area said they would have liked more of a heads up about the potential congestion.
"You can't control a water main break, but if it's road construction, perhaps communication could have been better," said Patty Sager, who got caught in the back up. "We could have been alerted ahead of time that there was going to be a problem. I don't think we heard anything."
Officials with Henrico Public Works said they plan on reviewing the situation with the Police Department to see how they can improve the communication process moving forward.
Cox Road is expected to be drivable by the morning commute Wednesday.
"I hope it gets fixed. Not tomorrow! I don't want to get caught in the same thing tomorrow for sure!" said Satish Joshi, who works off Cox Rd.
