Chinese Traffic Apocalypse

Drivers outside Beijing are in the ninth day of a traffic jam that now extends more than 60 miles. The chief cause of the congestion appears to be construction on a parallel road, which has diverted a lot of truck traffic onto the expressway; heavy trucks are reportedly doing a lot of damage to the highway, which I suppose will lead to more construction and more congestion in the future. (Sounds like a good argument for weight-sensitive road pricing.) The situation is not unprecedented: The same highway saw another jam earlier this summer that lasted over 15 days.

Bonus video, not from China, though it was directed by a Maoist: