China’s Great Wall of Traffic Jam: 10,000 vehicles, 11 Days, 120 km

By KATHERINE ZHU, ABC News, BEIJING, Sept. 3, 2010 –

If you are dreading Labor Day traffic jams, take heart that you are not stuck on the highway in China where a monster jam is moving into its 11th day.

As many as 10,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, are crammed fender to fender for 74.5 miles (120 km) along the north-south Beijing-Tibet expressway.

The highway mess can be attributed, at least in part, to roadwork intended to alleviate the congestion. But other factors are also slowing traffic, including drivers falling asleep in the days-long gridlock and blocking other vehicles when there is some movement, Chinese news reports state.

The bulk of congestion is located between Inner Mongolia and Hebei province, which is located northwest of Beijing, according to the Global Times. Vehicles consist premarily of trucks carrying coal and food into Beijing.

The gridlock began in August when various sections along the expressway were jamming up due to road construction. Some early blockages were slowly resolved, but on Aug. 27 traffic hit another bottleneck at the Ji Meng toll stop in Inner Mongolia. The congestion soon extended 18.6 miles (30 km) with thousands of cars idling while trying to get through the tolls…….(more details from ABCNews)