120 kilometre traffic jam in China

There are traffic jams and then there are Chinese ‘traffic jams’. We all know that feeling of being stuck in our car in bumper-to-bumper traffic that’s barely moving.  Fifteen minutes passes and you’ve moved less than 10 metres. Your blood starts to boil as you watch pedestrians out for a quiet stroll passing you out and with Electric Picnic underway this may be something that Irish motorists may be experiencing this weekend.  But before you succumb to the temptation to abandon your car out of desperation, spare a thought for our Chinese motoring counterparts who have been stuck in the traffic jam to end all traffic jams…

Last week some unlucky Chinese motorists had the dubious honour of being trapped in one of the longest tailbacks ever recorded. It was a staggering 100 kilometres long and went on for nine days. Yes, you heard me right – that’s nine days, not nine hours or even an upsetting nine minutes. Now that’s one time you’d be happy to have your set of travel Monopoly with you.

Eventually the authorities managed to clear the queue of vehicles which had ground to a halt for over a week. But now, only a few days later, a new bigger and ‘better’ backlog has built up.

This time the jam is a jaw-dropping 120 kilometres long and is running along a motorway from the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia (who knew there was an ‘inner’ version of ‘outer Mongolia’!) towards Beijing and the province of Hebei. Most of those stuck in what must seem like a special kind of hell are drivers of coal trucks – more than 10,000 in total – who are now sitting in the equivalent of an enormous carpark.

As extraordinary as this bumper-to-bumper experience is, the cause of it is a little more familiar to those of us who’ve had the ‘fun’ of living through the seemingly never-ending M50 roadworks – the massive traffic jam began when traffic restrictions were brought in in Hebei last Tuesday. Ah roadworks, a motorist’s worst enemy. So next time you’re sitting there waiting for the lights to change, be thankful you’re unlikely to be still be stuck in the same spot over a week later.

For the full story see the Irish Times website: www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0902/breaking25.html

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