By Yeo Ghim Lay

THE blaring of horns filled the downtown area near Marina Centre yesterday, with motorists caught in the road closures for this weekend's Formula One race.

Despite the Land Transport Authority (LTA) advising motorists about the closures earlier this month, traffic was backed up for more than 1km along the city-bound Nicoll Highway, part of which is closed from yesterday till next Tuesday.

Most of the motorists looking to turn left onto Raffles Boulevard, which was closed as well, were not able to and had to take a right into Middle Road instead.

As a result, the junction of Nicoll Highway and Middle Road became gridlocked by early afternoon, with Traffic Police directing traffic from the centre.

Drivers impatient with the wait blared their horns repeatedly to no avail.

Those heading to Suntec City said the journey took four to five times longer yesterday.

Sales manager Gideon Loh, 33, took 25 minutes to get there from Paya Lebar.

'It was a slow crawl from the beginning of Nicoll Highway all the way to Suntec City,' he said.

For Ms Serene Ang, 30, the director of an apparel company, the journey from Tanjong Rhu to Suntec City took 20 minutes. 'It was quite troublesome to get here, and I'm now running late.'

Both usually take only five minutes for their journeys.

At Bras Basah Road, motorists were also caught in the crawl. The five-lane road was reduced to 11/2 lanes outside Raffles Hotel, as motorists could only turn left into Beach Road.

Despite the congestion, the LTA said there were no accidents reported in the area.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.