CHICAGO (WBBM) – Hundreds of cars flooded the Main Post Office just west of the Loop, as last minute tax filers tried to beat the midnight deadline.

As WBBM Newsradio 780′s Lisa Fielding reports, traffic was gridlocked and car horns were honking at the corner of Harrison and Canal streets, as drivers approached the Post Office at 433 W. Harrison St.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Lisa Fielding reports

Chicago Police Officer Dawn Adams was directing traffic, and trying to keep the peace.

“In the next couple of hours, it’s going to get normally ugly,” she said.

Adams is in her 11th year directing traffic in the final hours of Tax Day, and she’s used to it. Hundreds of procrastinators pull to the curb to get their returns in before midnight.

“People who wait too late are the people who pay,” Adams said.

No matter what your reason, tax filing is something most can’t avoid. But that didn’t stop hundreds of people from waiting until the last minute.

“Oh, yeah, waiting ’til the last minute when we owe,” one woman said.

A man described himself as “just lazy.”

Another woman said she waited until the last minute “because I have to pay.”

Several collectors were on hand curbside within a two-block radius to keep the crowd moving.

Once the returns were finally dropped off, the procrastinators were pleased to have beaten the tax clock.

Earlier, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Mark Reynolds said twice as many people were expected to visit the Main Post Office to file their tax returns at the last minute, even though filers had an extra weekend to finish.

“People still procrastinate even though they had a few extra days thanks to the government,” Reynolds said.