Katie Dickinson was one of the lucky drivers Friday morning.

She spotted the traffic eastbound on I-565 before taking her usual route to work and opted for a detour. Even with the change in plans, she still found herself caught up in traffic with thousands of drivers trying to make it to Redstone Arsenal's Gate 9.

"I usually just zip right through on 565," said Dickinson, who works at an office on Governor's Drive. "Even with taking the other way, I was in traffic a lot longer than normal."

Dickinson is one of tens of thousands of drivers who felt the full force of sequestration cutbacks this week as the furlough of security guards closed lanes and limited access to Redstone Arsenal.

Traffic problems began Wednesday, two days after civilian Department of Defense workers began 11 days of unpaid leave. They grew Friday when Gates 3 and 7 were closed and Gate 8 delayed opening until 9:45 a.m. The closures led to miles of traffic jams and long waits for commuters, even with a large number of Redstone Arsenal workers taking Friday as their furlough day.

Gate traffic was light around 7 a.m. Friday but by 7:30 a.m., it backed up on I-565 eastbound from the Research Park Boulevard interchange to Wall Triana Highway in Madison. Traffic was backed up on Madison Blvd. as well.

Redstone Arsenal Garrison Commander Williams Marks, whose first full day on the job was Friday, said Thursday he thought arsenal officials had done a good job of planning for the traffic changes but added the problems weren't "going to be resolved overnight."

"It's an on-going process," he said.

Mike Sheehy, Director of Emergency Services at Redstone Arsenal, said the furlough of guards is spread out through the week. The guards work in shifts and have their furloughs staggered with the major reductions set for Friday when many employees will be out. However, thousands of workers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the FBI's Hazardous Devices School and the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Center for Explosives Training and Research, as well as contractors and military personnel, still have to make their way through the gates.

The result on Friday was traffic chaos.

Initial plans called for access at each gate to be cut by 30 percent. That may change as traffic patterns are analyzed and especially once road work begins on Martin Road between Gate 7 and Rideout Road. Problems there will grow once school starts back, according to arsenal officials, as school buses use Gate 7 to access the arsenal.

Meanwhile, commands on the arsenal are examining options to help workers avoid the traffic tie-ups. Among the options being considered are staggered start times and shortening work days so the furlough hours are spread out across the week.

Commands have some flexibility on how they institute furloughs, though most have opted to shut down on Friday. Several community services at Redstone, as well as Fox Army Medical Center, are now closed on Friday.

After Wednesday's traffic problems, Sheehy said work to alleviate the problems will continue but cannot guarantee substantial improvements.

"There's no easy answer. We're all attempting to get the job done with less manpower; it's difficult," Sheehy said. "We will continue to analyze the situation and shift resources to minimize the impacts."

AL.com Public Safety Reporter Nicole Emmett contributed to this report.