My office is located in an office park that sits just above a junction where the roads from Agra, Faridabad and Noida merge to head into Delhi. Usually, this is an advantage, as it feeds into the city on a long, straight four-lane road (in reality 6 lanes) that moves relatively expeditiously on normal days. I have been relatively oblivious to the issues created by this as the chaos from merging these major arteries is usually sorted into the controlled havoc that I have come to recognize as “normal” by the time the traffic reaches my area.
Apparently, a few years ago, they decided to “fix” the junction by creating overpasses and underpasses to facility a smooth transition. This construction has been going on since I arrived, but until now, has not impacted my route. That all changed last week.
The usually route I take is now blocked, so we must join the hoard of displaced motorist on an access road that runs parallel to the construction headed in the opposite direction in order to make a U-turn to come back through the construction and get on the long, straight road home. If it sounds complicated, it is.
As typical with India, there was no forethought into how to deviate the thousands of cars that use this route every day; there was no thought when they closed the main road as to what impact diverting 100,000 cars onto a dirt road in the middle of the rainy season would have; and there was absolutely no thought given in how half of those cars would make the U-turn. It is the most assed-up road construction solution I have ever seen.
It begins with 3 rows of cars on a single lane access road, packed bumper to bumper, jockeying for position for the 2 inches that the car in front just gave up. This lurching movement is not unusual in India. What makes this one extra fun is the car caught on the outside runs the risk getting bogged down in the mud and jacking up what little forward progress the group is experiencing. If it does head off into the mud, the odds of getting it unstuck within the current day are nil.
Any progress, though, is controlled by the cars trying to make the U-turn a half a mile ahead. In India, no one has the ability to anticipate needs, so as the mass of cars inch past the turn off point, one car in the left lane will realize that, in fact, he needs to make the right turn. He will then inch forward blocking all forward movement until he can get across and out though the small opening in the construction barrier. Just to make things interesting, the motorist in the right lane, seizing the opportunity to move forward will lunge into the open spot in front of the opening and block the car moving from left to right essential ensuring that no one moves for the next 20 minutes. Lastly, since the opening can accommodate roughly one vehicle at a time, the opening will now be filled with cars coming through in the opposite direction trying to join the flow. All the while, everyone is blowing their horns as if the sound waves alone were going to free up this mangled mess. It is absolutely maddening!
It now takes me over an hour to simply get through the ¼ mile labyrinth of cars, mud and barriers before getting on the long, straight road home. A once serene 20-minute commute has turned into an epic, endless gladiator battle with chariots of steel.
I have learned to simply put in my headphones, open a book and let the driver handle the traffic. Less Indians die this way!
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