This scene looks super familiar... I think I might have been there earlier in the day. Lol.
Last year there was some construction going on in a small town in Texas called Huntsville. Huntsville is about 45 minutes North of Houston and is built along I-45, the interstate between Houston and Dallas. Between Houston and Huntsville, I-45 passes through an unpopulated area where there are no exits or connecting roads for miles.
One day, some TXDoT workers in Huntsville decided that in order to finish what they were working on, they would just shut down the entire Northbound interstate and force all traffic through a single exit right outside of town. They also decided not to make any announcements through common channels, nor put up any signs except a couple of miles down the road.
So, my ex-gf and I, thinking we would be making a quick 45 minute trip to visit some old friends and Huntsville, get on I-45 and start heading that way. About halfway there, after passing the last exit for like 10 miles, everything suddenly grinds to a halt. And I mean, a dead halt.
We wound up sitting in traffic for over 5 hours before we made it to Huntsville. 5 hours. For a normally 45 minute trip. It was midday, it was summer, it was over 90 degrees the entire time, and people were suffering. This poor woman and her little kid next to us had no working AC, so we let them cool off in my car and gave them some extra water.
At least there were some funny moments. Didn’t get any movies like OP, but there were a number of us making jokes on the Waze public maps. Remember when I said there were no announcements or signs put up? Yeah, no one on that road knew why we were stuck until someone a couple hours up the road posted that it was construction.
So 5 hours and a few piss bottles later and my gf and I make it to Huntsville, just in time for us to have to turn around and go back to Houston. On the way back, the sun had begun to set and we saw miles and miles of cars and trucks stuck just like we were. Looked just like in OP’s video.
Anyway, moral of the story, fuck TXDoT and check Waze before making trips in remote areas.