Nightmare Traffic At American Express Concerts, City Apologizes

LA QUINTA, CA — Desert traffic was, at times, nightmarish this past weekend as a result of high concert turnout during the The American Express Golf Tournament in La Quinta.

But city officials are working to learn from 2020 missteps and improve traffic flow at next year's event.

Friday night's Stevie Nicks concert at the PGA West Resort drew thousands of fans, but also lots of headaches.

"Tonight many of you experienced the traffic congestion at The American Express Golf Tournament after the concert," the City of La Quinta posted on social media. "There were extreme delays that were frustrating for all involved. ... We understand that many of you were caught in the traffic and we do apologize. "

The city said it appreciated everyone's patience as it looked for ways to lessen extreme delays during Saturday's Luke Bryan concert at the same venue.

As the Bryan concert neared, the city posted, "As many are preparing or already attending The American Express Golf Tournament, the city wanted to give some updates on tonight’s concert. This event has grown exponentially since last year and with that growth comes unforeseen issues. The city met with the event promoter and Riverside County Sheriff to look at what can be done tonight to mitigate traffic. All parties involved have identified some ways to help but we are asking for patience for those attending. There will be delays and we will do everything we can to make them as short as possible. We want a fun and safe event and everyone to get home safely.

"We thank our residents of our amazing city for your understanding," the post continued. "The event this year has already been so successful for La Quinta as well as the many charities that will benefit from it. We know next year will only get better."

More law enforcement was added Saturday to help control traffic, and residential traffic was rerouted. It helped, but it was still slow-going in the area.

La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans told NBC that the lessons learned this past weekend will make the event better next year.

“We want that experience of golf, music that fan experience to be fabulous all the way up until they exit so we’ll take ownership of that and work collectively as a team and improve it ...," she said.

According to Evans, The American Express Golf Tournament raised $1 million for local charities.

“We will manage what we need to do to enhance the traffic flow because the end result is all about charity ...,” she told NBC.