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Despite assurances from officials that traffic would not be a major problem this time, cars attempting to get into the Langerado Music Festival at Big Cypress Indian Reservation are stuck in what is essentially a 10-mile long parking lot.

A Naples Daily News reporter covering the four-day, multiple-band event said he was unable to leave the concert grounds until a police officer allowed him to use a rarely used side road. He was stuck because incoming cars were blocking both incoming and outgoing lanes of Snake Road, the main two-lane road leading to the reservation from Interstate 75.

And a supervisor with the Seminole Police Department said his officers are trying to stop drivers from creating a roadblock, but that it is difficult.

"As you can imagine, there are thousands of people coming in," Lt. Doug Zamora said. "We are fighting that a little bit, but people are taking it upon themselves to make it a two-lane road."

Zamora said his officers are attempting to "maintain order," but that he doesn't believe handing out tickets to violators will solve the problem. He believes that would just create chaos and anger toward the officers.

Eight years ago, the traffic problem was much worse.

The jam-band Phish held its five-day millennium concert at the reservation, halfway between Naples and Fort Lauderdale. The four band members drew more than 80,000 concert-goers to the Everglades, and in the process caused a 20-mile backup of cars.

Prior to this year's concert, authorities and festival organizers were promising a much better drive for concert-goers.

“Thursday and Friday will be the heaviest traffic, but nothing that should impact Alligator Alley from either direction,” Ethan Schwartz, a representative of the festival, wrote in an e-mail.

But the reporter covering the event said there was about five miles worth of traffic backed up on Alligator Alley.