I'd hate to drive a car in Amsterdam. Far worse yet, a delivery truck — but a car would be bad enough. Canal-side roads in Amsterdam, about thirteen feet wide and bordered by steel posts, are often blocked unceremoniously by construction crews, household movers — sometimes just a delivery van. The only options for a driver who comes upon a blocked road are to wait, or to go into reverse.
A business delivery will entail a few minutes' wait for
backed-up traffic while the delivery staff unloads goods — usually at a liesurely pace and with an
aloofness. The plumber's van may sit shopfront in the street for the afternoon. The crane, set up on stabilizing legs and lifting construction
materials to a rooftop, is not going anywhere today.
And amazingly, there is never a "road closed" sign. There is no indication — back at the intersection, for example — that the way is blocked.
What happens is that cars
enter and stop, and become backed up. If the nature of the obstruction is not obvious, a driver in one of the frontmost cars will get out and ask.
If the delay will be great, he or she will signal to
the drivers behind — and one or more of them may get out
and relay the signal further backward. There may be
eight or ten cars backed up. They must all reverse and reenter
the cross-street backwards, to go find an alternate
route.
And then it starts again.... this continues all day long,
or until the obstruction is gone.
— Autumn 2000
