Tag Archives | traffic

Jal El Dib Bridges Are Finally Open – Traffic is Even Worse Now

By Rami on March 20, 2019 in Traffic, Transportation

Following two years of construction work in Jal El Dib, the two 2L bridges were finally open for traffic last Saturday.

With the project completion, people were promised and actually expected the traffic to get better, except that it actually got worse, and I guess the outcome is simply logical. For cars coming from Jounieh towards Beirut, the road is effectively now narrower in Jal El Dib with an exist ramp follwed by an entrance ramp that eventually turbulate the traffic thanks to the way we drive around here. For example you always see drivers making a sharp right from the left lane to take the exit on the right and consequently slow down the traffic behind them.

People in charge of road management definitely deserve a trophy. And for those who make the Jounieh-Beirut trip everyday and now have an additional bottleneck on their way, antidepressant pills maybe.

photo via Lebanese Contractor Magazine

Beirut is Choking on its Traffic And It Wont Get Better!

By Rami on February 28, 2018 in Government, Social

Traffic around Beirut is seriously unbearable these days. I know the increasing number of cars keep making it worse every year but it is just frustrating now with the road works at major highways.

With the construction of the L bridges in Jal El Dib now, 2 lanes from each side of the highway have been closed and I can imagine how awful it is for people using that route everyday. On the other hand, the southern entrance is also no better, road works are being conducted on the airport highway and 2 lanes have also been closed on its eastern side.

What’s puzzling though is that when such works are performed on vital roads, the government does not bother to oblige the contractor to work day and night shifts to finish whatever they’re doing in the least number of days. I’ve never someone working after 5 or 6 PM on the airport road for example and no one seems to care…

Much needed maintenance is currently also being done for Salim Salam tunnel by the way, but fortunately only during the night. However, I lately heard that at some point it will be totally closed day and night for 7 whole months in order to complete the whole work! I already get stuck for 25 minutes sometimes to cross the distance from Beirut Sports City to Salim Salam, and I imagine it will be hell if the news turned to be true!

And of course it doesn’t just stop at Beirut main entrances, some inside roads are closed in fear of terrorist attacks, but I don’t believe this is justified anymore especially that the authorities claim the situation is very well “controlled” nowadays. The blocks around ESCWA in downtown, General Security in Mathaf, as well as Adlieh all don’t make sense anymore. The one at ESCWA isn’t even logical since it gets lifted by 5 or 6PM everyday because you know, terrorists don’t work overtime.

What’s funny though is that blocks around Nejmeh Square have all been lifted as if the parliament is suddenly no longer a target, so we should probably wait until other places get also suddenly lifted from target lists!

Now some may suggest there must be a solution by at minimum improving the public transport system, but in a country that scores so low on corruption perception index thanks to highly inefficient officials, you better instead look for fun things to do when stuck in you car during the days to come!

Driving In and Out of Beirut – Near Death Experiences Everyday

By Rami on April 25, 2017 in Cars, Traffic, What the fuck!

This video is ~7 minutes of pure horror to anybody into traffic management. A Lebanese YouTuber (Nash Suleiman) recorded his journey in and out of Beirut (from and to Choueifat as it shows) and documented the violations people and himself do everyday.

Just like everyone, I became accustomed to the chaotic driving in this country. But this video lets you observe things from a different perspective, and at one point as you watch you can’t but wonder how on earth do we reach our destination in one piece every time we get into a car… and this by the way made me think that this is one of the main reasons I am currently looking to move into an apartment within Beirut. I basically go daily through almost the same routes that show in the video and I am hating it by the day due to the recklessness of other drivers and the violations that I sometimes feel forced to make. I am sure those who commute to Beirut from other areas like the mountains or Jounieh and the areas beyond can also relate.

This video also incidentally proves that relying on the new traffic law alone to reduce road accidents is utter bullshit. As Nash mentioned at the end, safer roads is a responsibility that each and everyone of us has to bear.

Beirut Just Got Its First Bike Lane

By Rami on April 23, 2017 in Beirut, Traffic

In a public post on Facebook, Jawad Sbeity the owner of Beirut by Bike shared some photos from Waygand street showing the setup of the first bike lane in Beirut.

It wasn’t clear where exactly does the lane start and where does it end, nor the streets that will cover or when will it be finalized, nevertheless it’s definitely some good to those who take their bikes around the downtown.

However, the only and most important concern remains whether driver will acknowledge this bike lane or not. Waygand street gets quite busy during the day with some shops there have valet parking service and most of the time you find cars parked on the right lane which narrows the road… so whether you like it or not drivers will have no option but to drive over that bike lane especially during rush hour. Still, neither Sbeity nor the municipality can be blamed for that, but rather the lack of urban planning that should have provisioned wider streets around Beirut.

Anyway, let’s see how long will this lane live on!

The Problem With The New Red Light Cameras in Beirut

By Rami on February 18, 2017 in Government, Law

The traffic management center in Lebanon recently installed some red light cameras around Beirut in order to enforce traffic laws by automatically photographing people who run red lights or those who stop their cars on red AFTER the white stop bar. In their first tests, they unsurprisingly were able to record a violation every 8 seconds!

However, while the installation of these cameras is just logical in order to ensure the new traffic law is fully applied, you cant but feel that it is an ill-timed step… I mean let’s be honest, the majority of those who apply for a driving license show up on their test day to sign some papers and end up getting their license no matter how poor their knowledge about traffic laws is, and I really doubt most drivers are aware that you’re not supposed to stop the cars after the white bar on a red light. In fact, if you abide by this rule don’t be surprised to see people cutting you off and stopping in front of you…

The ultimate purpose for applying traffic rules is to reduce road accidents and avoid traffic jams. So it it were up to me, I would have allocated this project money to educate the masses and recruit additional police officers to ensure that the basic laws are applied. Till now, wherever you go in Beirut you see taxi cars and minibuses picking up passengers wherever they please on the road. Moreover, double parking is like norm everywhere… solving these two problems alone should guarantee making the traffic smoother all over the city. Let alone other problems caused by asshole motorbikers and pedestrians who insist on crossing the road no matter what color is the traffic light.

But then again, someone now thinks it is time to erect these cameras regardless of any other priorities, so brace yourselves, tickets are coming!

Lebanese drivers logic: What i decided to do about it!

By on December 17, 2014 in What the fuck!

A woman with a child on her bicycle navigates through Beijing traffic.

I’ll start off with a simple logical description of the issue on hand: On a single-lane road, two cars can pass faster when they are moving one after another. But when next to each other, one car has to slow down in order to let the other pass. In other words, lamma ykoun 3adad l siyarat yalle meshyin 7ad ba3d aktar mn 3adad l lanes, hol l siyarat bya3mlo 3aj2a la2an ma bise3o yo2ta3o 7ad ba3d w bisiro majbourin ykhaffefo ta ymar2o ba3d.
This effect, scaled up, creates irrelevant, unneeded, ugly traffic.

Supposing that what I am talking about can be grasped by small minded Lebanese drivers (which I doubt) who think they are always in a state of rush that allows them to just create lanes of their own, driving the wrong way or even where there is no ‘way’, I have come to a decision that I would like to share.

Paint balls!

Since I am daily witnessing the phenomena of “I am in a rush, I drive my car where I please” and “matra7 ma bshouf zefet bemshe. w aslan ma droure ykoun fi zefet” I have decided to purchase a stock of paint balls and a paint ball gun. Why? you may ask. I shall salute each driver driving the wrong way with a colorful paint ball to cheer up his day w ta fesh khel2e as well. So in case you come across some news report in the near future speaking of a trend of colorful cars on the Lebanese roads, you can safely assume that I had some part in setting that trend.

And oh, since its Christmas time, I will start with a stock of green and red paint balls 🙂

image via mumatlarge.blogspot.com

Mkalles roundabout is still a roundabout

By on September 18, 2014 in What the fuck!

Mkallis

The works at Mkalles roundabout were recently concluded and the bridge as well as the tunnel have been open for a while now. However a few crucial points puzzle me:

The roundabout is still a roundabout.
Let’s say you are coming towards Mkalles from Jisr el Basha and you need to make a u-turn to go back, you actually must drive through the whole roundabout and get stuck in the traffic that’s going towards Mansourieh, Dekwene, Hayek and Habtoor. This fact also applies whether you are coming from Dekwene, Mansourieh, Hayek, or Habtoor.
Most people that drive down daily towards Beirut, from Mansourieh, Daychounieh, Ain Saade and the surrounding Matn areas were waiting for the works at Mkalles to finish hoping the roundabout will no longer be the bottleneck it once was. Sadly though, this is not the case since these people are not even being able to easily reach the infamous roundabout in the first place. The thing is, the actual bottleneck is at the SKAFF gallery turn (a.k.a mafra2 l OTV) where the incoming traffic specially during rush hours is barely if any organized.

The situation is only going to become worse with the school season just starting and the rain we all love soon pouring on our well paved roads.

I understand that traffic jams are common, specially in our country, but a 3 long years multi-million dollar project should have provided the needed solution in an area where traffic is a major issue.

photo via http://throughatoonerdarkly.wordpress.com/

7arba2a!

By Rami on January 15, 2014 in Lebanon

I guess the photo was taken yesterday while EDL contract workers were blocking Dora highway.

via Now Lebanon

Terrible traffic at Ouzai this morning

By Rami on October 24, 2013 in Lebanon

Earlier this month, minister Marwan Charbel imposed a new traffic plan on truck drivers to keep them from driving during rush hours in order to reduce congestion on the main roads.

The drivers eventually didn’t like this plan, so they started complaining about it in the media until they decided to go on a protest today. And being the geniuses they are, they didn’t do that in front of the ministry of interior or any other reasonable place, on the other hand, they simply decided to block the Ouzai highway which is used by thousands everyday to reach Beirut, which made people wait for like an hour or two in their cars this morning! I know because I was one of them.

Police officers were as usual just watching the protestors, and not daring to speak a word with them, while trying to organize the traffic a bit.

Balad mat3oub 3leih!

In support of the Lebanese army

By Rami on June 12, 2013 in Lebanon

I’ve been noticing some traffic signs and parking meter machines around Achrafieh with stickers on them calling to take a stand with the Lebanese army.

I’m all for supporting the Lebanese army, but isn’t that also considered as an act of vandalism?

Second photo via @nicolasehnaoui

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