"The road suddenly turns out to be impassable because it's being rebuilt by the Chinese, only we're not supposed to know that. And exactly what is meant by 'suddenly' I don't know because they've apparently been at it for ten years."

Adams complains about a road that's suddenly closed for rebuilding. He then mocks the word 'suddenly', since the work has apparently gone on for ten years. The joke is bureaucratic vagueness meeting a very long delay, with broken pavement as the picture.

Context reviewed 28 September 2026