Chinese Drivers Stuck In 9-day, 62-mile Traffic Jam
Thousands of vehicles remained bogged down on Monday in a 62-mile traffic jam that has lasted nine days on a highway leading into Beijing, underscoring China’s struggle to manage its rapid growth.Â
Traffic slowed to a crawl on the Beijing-Tibet expressway on August 14 due to a surge in traffic by cargo trucks making their way into the capital city of 20 million residents.
The expressway is a major artery for the supply of coal, produce and other products into Beijing.
The problem was further aggravated by road maintenance work that began on the 19th, the state-run Global Times reported.
The pileup between Beijing and Jining city had prompted a mini-economy, the Times reported, with local merchants moving in to profit from selling food and water to stranded drivers at inflated prices.
The area of the highway connecting Beijing with the northern province of Hebei and the Inner Mongolia region has become increasingly susceptible to large traffic jams as Beijing continues to attract vast shipments of goods.
According to previous press reports, a similar buildup had slowed traffic to a crawl for nearly 4 weeks in June and July.
The current problem has been exacerbated by the highway improvement project, which was required due to road damage caused by the continual increase in cargo traffic, the newspaper said.
China has worked in recent years to expand its national highway system, but the nation’s rapidly growing traffic still periodically engulfs the grid.
The current congestion is expected to last into mid-September, when the road improvements are set to conclude, the Times said.