Monday, August 23, 2010

100km Traffic Jam, Part 2

BBC News
Vehicles, mostly lorries bound for Beijing, are backed up for about 100km (62 miles) because of heavy traffic, road works and break-downs.

The drivers have complained that locals are over-charging them for food and drink while they are stuck.

There has been a boom in road building in China in recent years but vehicle use has soared at the same time.

The stalled traffic stretches between Jining in Inner Mongolia and Huai'an in Hebei province, north-west of Beijing, said the Global Times.

The BBC article gives more details. If you go on Google Maps, you can find both places and the 100km stretch of road called Jinghu Expressway.


View Larger Map

If you look on the satellite map, that area is pretty rugged and sparsely populated (relatively... there are people everywhere in China). However, there seems to be a detour south to Datong and then east to Xuanhua. Sure it looks like an additional 100km but beats sitting around for 9 days.

Of course, the article is unclear whether there's heavy traffic for 9 days or the same cars/trucks have been stuck for that long. Hopefully it's not the latter... though observing the driving etiquette in China, I wouldn't be surprised.

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