Capital's new ring road will boost region's integrated development

With the last section of a highway encircling the capital opened to traffic on Monday noon, Beijing's Seventh Ring Road has been completed. Beijing News comments:

The last section of the ring road connects Tongzhou and Daxing districts in the southeast of Beijing and neighboring Sanhe city in Hebei province, which will effectively ease the traffic pressure between Beijing's downtown and these places, where at least 1 million commuters live.

The completion of the last section of the 940-kilometer expressway marks the closing of the G95 ring road. The expressway, most of which passes through Hebei, will help to boost the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei－a development strategy considered of national importance by the central authorities－by promoting the flow of talent, capital, information and goods in the region and promoting the development of Hebei, which is relatively less developed than Beijing and Tianjin.

It now connects at least seven major highways radiating out of Beijing and links 13 neighboring satellite cities, including the Xiongan New Area, which is under construction about 200 kilometers to the south of Beijing and earmarked to become a driver for the region's development.

A system of ring and radial roads linking nearby areas has been established in preparation for the region's integrated economic development.

The new ring road will also reduce the traffic density of trucks on the existing expressways in southeastern Beijing, by offering a new route for heavy-duty truck drivers shuttling among places in the northeast, northwest and east of China. At present, most of them opt to take the Sixth Ring Road, which is much closer to Beijing's urban area. The new expressway will help ease the traffic congestion and reduce the air pollution in the capital.