Giant Traffic Jam Paralyzes Volgograd Highway: What Happened?

The road in front of the «Dancing Bridge,» leading from Krasnoslobodsk to Volgograd, was paralyzed by a giant traffic jam. Drivers blame unscheduled repairs, for which the road surface was dug up and traffic partially closed as early as Saturday.

Meanwhile, according to data from the service «Yandex Maps,» the traffic jam stretched for 7 kilometers from the traffic police post all the way to the village of Maslovo. One lane from the bridge entrance was closed, leaving drivers to freeze in their cars.

«This time, the road workers remembered that their weight control system isn»t working (it didn«t work at all in the summer either). They decided to fix it at -20 degrees Celsius (-4°F), but apparently thought: »to hell with it.« As a result, traffic is closed, and no one is on site,» fumes a motorist.

The State Treasury Institution of the Volgograd Region «Road Directorate» later confirmed — work is indeed underway in front of the bridge entrance. They did not announce completion dates, but asked drivers to be understanding of the inconveniences.

— As part of fulfilling a state contract, work is underway to install weight measurement sensors in the area of the automatic weight and dimension control point, which required restricting movement on one lane. The organization apologizes to drivers for the inconveniences caused and asks for understanding. Traffic will be restored on all lanes in the near future.

The last time traffic jams of this size were recorded about six months ago, when officials imposed strict restrictions on truck movement in the city during daytime hours. The initiative nearly led to a collapse, so the ban was soon significantly weakened.