Lake Shore Drive in Chicago Paralyzed as Snowstorm Bears Down

Lake Shore Drive: Hundreds of cars were stranded and snowed-in on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago due to a massive blizzard that hit the northern U.S.

Lake Shore Drive: Cars sit in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive after accidents and drifting snow stranded the drivers during last night's blizzard February 2, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Lake Shore Drive, a main artery for Chicago area traffic, became the site of a massive traffic jam on Tuesday and Wednesday. The problems were due to the blizzard that descended upon the city of Chicago, according to media reports on Wednesday.

Several hundred people have been stranded on the drive, which runs near Lake Michigan. City officials closed down the drive on Wednesday.

Residents slammed the city’s response to the blizzard, even though Mayor Richard Daley’s Chief of Staff Ray Orozco apologized for the problems.

“We know that hundreds of people were very inconvenienced, and we apologize for that,” he said in a statement. “While we wanted to get to these people as quickly as possible, we wanted to get to them as safely as possible.”

Media photos taken of the drive show piles of snow enveloping an endless line of cars. Gusting winds and white-out conditions have paralyzed the city. The Associated Press reported that between 700 and 900 cars were stranded for hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It was like looking through a milkshake, a vanilla milkshake,” Don Levy, who was stranded on the drive for nine hours, told the Chicago