Think you have a rough morning commute? Lots of Americans do. However, we’ve got it easy compared to the Chinese. If your daily travel plans in China include a trip between Huai’an and Beijing via the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, then I suggest you find an alternate route. Unless you’re already stuck on the road as part of the nine-day, 62-mile-long epic traffic jam that has paralyzed the expressway in the 20-million-strong city.
The cause of the back-up? Road maintenance, of course. Nearby thoroughfare National Expressway 110 is closed down to repair damage done to the roadway by heavy vehicles, which means the major way in and out of the city is via the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, and when you’re driving a big truck, you kind of can’t take the twisty side streets as easily as a car might. The traffic congestion started on August 14, and is going so slowly that drivers are playing cards together and food vendors have hopped onto the freeway to sell their wares at inflated prices! Fortunately, the construction will be over by September 1.
I’ll never complain about the traffic on my commute ever again. Still, it could be worse. At least there have been no babies born during this traffic congestion spell.
Image: DVice
Tags: traffic jams, traffic problems, congestion, Beijing-Tibet Expressway, Beijing, Huai’an, China, nine-day-long traffic jam, nine-day traffic jam, 62-mile traffic jam, traffic problems, epic traffic jam, world’s largest traffic jam