HUGE queues built up on roads across a large part of the city following two fatal collisions in and around Exeter.
Traffic was diverted along Hill Barton Road, toward the Middlemoor roundabout, which quickly became blocked.
Vehicles queued towards the Sandygate roundabout, which was already busy following the earlier accident on the M5.
Workers leaving the Sowton Industrial Estate faced gridlock for several hours.
And the knock-on effects of the road closures could be felt on all major routes directions as rush hour began.
One driver said: "It took me an hour to travel from Pinhoe to the Sowton Industrial Estate via Middlemoor. When I got there I had to abandon my car and walk into work because the estate was gridlocked.
"I've never known the traffic to be so bad. But of course, my thoughts are with the families of the victims, which puts it all into perspective."
The traffic follows two serious collisions that has left two people dead.
A man has died following a collision on the outskirts of Exeter.
Officers, along with paramedics, were called to Exhibition Way, Pinhoe at 2.30pm today, 27th January after reports that a pedestrian was seriously injured.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of the death but police are investigating if he was in collision with a lorry.
The man has not been formally identified and his family are currently being traced.
Police are also appealing for witnesses to a collision on the M5 northbound near Cullompton in which a woman died.
Police and other emergency services were called to the scene of the fatal collision involving a car and a lorry just after 12.10pm on Tuesday 27 January.
The collision involving a heavy goods vehicle and a silver Vauxhall Omega happened about one mile before junction 28, Cullompton.
The car driver, a 57-year-old woman from Tiverton, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family have been informed.
The male car passenger was not injured.
The lorry driver, a 64-year-old man from Cardiff, has been arrested on suspicion of death by dangerous driving and taken to Heavitree Road police station. He was uninjured.
The M5 northbound between junction 29, Exeter, and junction 28, Cullompton, was closed immediately after the collision.
Lane three was reopened at 3pm but lane one and two are expected to be closed until 8pm tonight.
Highways have assisted with the motorway closure.
