Concert goers had to take a detour to Sleep Train Amphitheatre Friday evening after a driver struck a power pole in Chula Vista, leading to a big mess on major roadways around the popular concert venue.
The Chula Vista Police Department said a driver hit a power pole, causing it to come crashing down at Main Street and Heritage Road at around 3 p.m.
[G] Driver Slams Into Power Pole Shutting Down Main Street in Chula Vista
The driver told police that a phone charging cable became wrapped around his leg. When he reached down to untangle it, he lost control of his car and hit the pole. Police say the 23-year-old man had been driving at a low rate of speed. He was not injured.
The crash did, however, cause a lot of problems on the busy roads. Traffic was reduced to one eastbound lane headed into Sleep Train Amphitheatre where a Dave Matthews Band concert was happening Friday night.
Approximately 12,000 people were expected to attend the show at the venue in the South Bay.
NBC 7 spoke to some drivers who were frustrated with the long wait.
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"It's like you're on a road trip," Victoria Lovato said. She was a passenger in one of the cars stuck in the traffic jam and said she was thankful she wasn't the one driving.
Another driver told us the traffic was three to four times worse than usual.
"We found out earlier but thought it would clear up by now," said Frank Fernandez. "This is longest it's ever taken before."
Fernandez said if drivers knew the backroads, they would be able to get out of the traffic mess; otherwise they were stuck on the road for a long time.
Angel Swanson said she was stuck in traffic for nearly three hours, trying to get home.
Police said concert attendees would need to enter the amphitheatre from State Route 905 at Caliente Road or Britannia Boulevard. Two makeshift lanes off Main Street would be used to ease the traffic once the concert was over, police said.
According to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), the incident also caused a temporary power outage for nearly 2,000 people in the area. Shortly after the crash, power had been restored to all but one customer.
Initially, SDG&E said it may take approximately 12 hours to repair the power pole. As of Friday night, the repairs were expected to be completed by 3 a.m. Saturday.
There was another concert scheduled at Sleep Train Amphitheatre Saturday night, this time Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa.
SDG&E told NBC 7 that all repairs to the power pole had been completed and the roads were back to normal ahead of Saturday night's concert.
