From The "Golden Expressway" To The "Road of Death"
Upon its completion, the PRC authorities and state media spared the least of efforts in trumpeting the creation of the Jingjintang Expressway, promoting it to the bitter end, and creating an illusion that the expressway was it in the PRC's expressway world. As a result of this widespread promotion, the expressway was known as the "golden expressway".
In November 2004, however, things looked very different. Incessant traffic jams, breakdowns, and chaos on the expressway earned it a more popular nickname—the "road of death".
The very problem lies within the expressway itself—massive traffic. The expressway was designed for a traffic audience of 50,000 vehicles a day—and apparently, not a vehicle more, as the current average of 59,000 vehicles a day is stretching the expressway to its limits. Meanwhile, during periods of high use, 130,000 vehicles are reported to be using the expressway -- per day.
Compounding the problem is a very narrow (2.4 m in width) hard shoulder, and the lack of emergency bays. Compound that with fog in the southeastern Beijing section, and no lights at night outside of the 4th Ring Road (Beijing), and one understands why the label "road of death" sticks so well to the expressway today.
Read more about this topic: Jingjintang Expressway
Famous quotes containing the words from the, golden, road and/or death:
“How did they meet? By chance, like everybody.... Where did they come from? From the nearest place. Where were they going? Do we know where we are going?”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“A perfect beauty of a sunflower! a perfect excellent lovely sunflower existence! a sweet natural eye to the new hip moon, woke up alive and excited grasping in the sunset shadow sunrise golden monthly breeze”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“They keep such a dingdong about “supporting the Constitution.” One might imagine it was some miserable, decrepit old creature that was no longer able to totter on crutches but must be held on every side, and dragged along like a drunken loafer, on his road to the lock-up.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)
“My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write your glorious name.
Where, whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)