Since August 14 truck drivers and everyday road users in Beijing have been subject to a traffic jam stretching 100km long. Now in its ninth day, the standstill on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway has left frustrated deadlocked truck & delivery drivers in their daily transport of goods in and out of the capital. The traffic jam has arisen as a result of continued roadworks that are not expected to be completed until late September.
The vast increase in trucks, which reached a daily peak of 17,000, have contributed to the jam and run the risk of affecting the road safety of local drivers. Niu Fengrui, director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told said: “If there’s no traffic jam in the city, that would be news.
However, the standstill has not put a dampener on everyone’s spirits; one local joked: “concerts should be held at each congested area every weekend, to alleviate drivers’ homesickness”. Many drivers stuck in the traffic jam have used their now considerable free time to play chess or cards, whilst local entrepreneurial vendors have seized the opportunity to sell tired drivers noodles and drinks.