TRAFFIC!!!
Today as you can tell from the posts below is just not my day. I have to put all the blame on traffic. Not just any traffic but Shuwaikh traffic specifically. Shuwaikh traffic has got to be the worst traffic of its kind. The other day on my way to IKEA I got stuck 20 minutes at the intersection just before IKEA. In the end I just parked my car on the side and walked to IKEA.
My motorbike lessons take place in Shuwaikh and the place I take the lessons is also right next to IKEA. Once I am done with my lessons at around 6:30 I have to drive back to Salmiya. The first day I drove back via the 4th Ring Road and the drive back took over an hour. Then I started taking the long way round which is going to Kuwait City and then towards Fahaheel Expressway and that drive takes around 40 minutes.
Getting in and out of Jabriya at that time is also hell as I experienced today. Its like everywhere I went today it was just really packed. Traffic really stresses me out and I tend to snap at the tiniest thing. Anyway enough complaining for tonight.
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21 Comments, add your own...
1. 767 | September 19th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
yeah the traffic was terrible today.. 4th and 5th ring roads were hell..
2. Marzouq | September 19th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Damn dude. Its like your going to explode! I work in Shuweikh most of the day and I do have to commute between different areas including the city and I try to choose odd hours. So that I avoid traffic!
3. Adam | September 20th, 2006 at 4:58 am
Try this, i used to follow this path when i was at Kuwait University, back when i was in Kuwait.
When you get leave Shuwaikh(IKEA side), onto the 55 which is also called the Airport Road, Continue straight like you normally would towards the 4th Ring Road, go under the bridge and continue straight(instead of turning left onto 4th Ring Road, Salmiya Direction). Continue straight till you get to the 2nd intersection…Then take a left onto 5th Ring Road(salmiya Direction). Usually its quicker.
The 5th is a wider road, and if there is rush hour its not half as bad as the 4th…
4. RaZ | September 20th, 2006 at 7:05 am
Just imagine when you get your bike license, this will all go away.
5. RaZ | September 20th, 2006 at 7:06 am
ooh yeah for 9 months in the year anyways……
6. Marzouq | September 20th, 2006 at 7:24 am
Adam: I work in Shuweikh and I use the airport road, and the traffic to get to the fifth ring road is probably worse, and they closed the intersection there now. They are doing constructions, you have a long way to go to get on the fifth ring road from the airport road!
7. RO | September 20th, 2006 at 8:06 am
Hey Raz….what did you mean “9 months of the year”? Is there some rule about riding bikes only 9 months out of the year?
8. KtheKuwaiti | September 20th, 2006 at 8:36 am
Its the unwritten rule of “Kuwaiti Summers are too f*cking hot to ride motorbikes in’; I am sure you have heard of it.
9. Fatality | September 20th, 2006 at 8:38 am
Lots of things piss me off, traffic isnt something that bothers me at all. I don’t know why exactly to be honest but whenever theres a jam I just sit back and wait it out while listening to the radio.
10. Fonzy | September 20th, 2006 at 9:10 am
i havent gone near shuwaikh but its just as bad all over kuwait. and i thought lebanon was bad
11. fractal00 | September 20th, 2006 at 9:44 am
Tell me about it .. i finish work everyday at 6 in Shuwaikh .. i get stuck in traffic almost everyday, my advice to you, go into alley’s avoid the public roads.
12. moocherx | September 20th, 2006 at 10:04 am
at least you’ll get a month’s respite during Ramadan…. right?
13. jewaira | September 20th, 2006 at 10:05 am
It is not only that there are too many cars; it’s the bad driving etiquette and skills one encounters on the road.
I know that one day I am going to get out of my car and give someone a good piece of my mind.
14. holla | September 20th, 2006 at 10:08 am
eww god mark, if yew don’t leek it, then GTFO dude.
15. Cajie | September 20th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Wow! 3 articles on “complaining” - and after taking a vow to not complain :)
Shuwaikh is the worst when it comes to traffic. Try going there during noon time, or evening time. Just can’t move anywhere. The worst part is that the 4-way interesctions have no signals, and most drivers don’t even bother looking left or right as they cross the intersection - causing huge traffic jams.
16. Pearls | September 20th, 2006 at 10:33 am
I have to drop my baby to his Aunt’s place every morning as early as 6:45am and she lives in Jabriya! It’s the worst.
I get stuck in the traffic for an hour. There’s nothing that I can do about it but wait and laugh at the crazy drivers.
17. RaZ | September 20th, 2006 at 11:52 am
RO do you live in Kuwait?
18. mbahrani | September 20th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
i have a strategy regarding traffic in Kuwait between September and may. if you have work in Shuwaikh do it in the evening cause you cant get in there in the morning. if you have work in hawally do it in the morning it will be empty , you cant go in there in the evening. and go out of your house at 4 p.m. to finish your work before the monsters get out of there caves. that’s before 6 or 7 p.m.
try it and tell me the results.
19. Ro | September 20th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Yeah Raz…..lived in Kuwait all my life….just never realised that bikers disappeared for 3 months a year. Guess thats coz all my buddies drive cars. How difficult is it to get a bike license anyway?? Do you need wasta n shit? Do you need to do the same eye test over again even if you already have a car driving license and already did the tests?
20. RaZ | September 20th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
For bike license its a shot in the dark. I got mine even without the test (without was6a) the guy just couldnt be arsed. I have friends who failed for putting their leg down on the figure 8, if you fail ask the police officer to do the same manouver, i bet he could’nt…..
21. Financy | September 21st, 2006 at 1:05 am
Man .. i just got back from the states yesterday ,
and yesterday i lost my mind on 4th ring road traffic .. i finnaly got sane in the US . o now im crazy again .
i have a temper here .. i lose it on traffic ,
damn it , they should put extreme diffucult rules on foreigners , all a foreigner need is
- civil i.d.
- driving license ( which he can buy for like 150 k.d from corrupted cops )
- a car worth 200 to 1000 k.d. ( he can have it on payments for like 25 a month )
before the iraqi war .. we were 2 millions .. half kuwaiti half foreigners
aftet the war .. 1 million kuwaiti , 2 million foreigner
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