E-Paper
Slow car to China: In mega-jam for 10 days
A traffic jam in China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.
A traffic jam in China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.
Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 100 km with vehicles moving little more than one km a day at one point has improved since this weekend, said Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city's Traffic Management Bureau general office.
Some have been stuck in the jam for five days, China Central television reported.
But Zhang said he wasn't sure when the situation along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou
highway would return to normal.
The traffic jam started on August 14 on a stretch of the highway that is frequently congested, especially after large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia, Zhang said.
Stranded drivers passed the time sleeping, walking around, or playing cards and chess. Locals were doing brisk business selling noodles, boxed lunches and snacks, and weaving between the parked trucks on cycles.
Though there were no reports of road rage, drivers complained about price-gouging by villagers who were their only source of food and water. A bottle of water that normally costs 1 yuan (15 cents) was selling for 10 yuan ($1.50), while the price of a cup of instant noodles had more than tripled, reports said.
China National Radio cited a driver surnamed Lu as saying: "I'm spending up to 50 yuan a day on food. It's more expensive than eating in a restaurant."
The highway construction that is causing the jam "will not be finished until September 17," Zhang said.
Authorities were trying to speed up traffic by allowing more trucks to enter Beijing, especially at night, he said.
