Huaqiao Toll Gate, a new important component of the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, officially opened to the public on September 28.

Huaqiao Toll Gate, a new important component of the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, officially opened to the public on September 28.

Four two-way lanes were set up at Huaqiao Toll Gate, which has broken the political boundaries between Shanghai and Jiangsu province, as well as brought convenience to the neighboring areas.

Four two-way lanes were set up at Huaqiao Toll Gate.

The Huaqiao Exit was listed as one of the key national construction projects in 2006 by Huaqiao International Service Business Park, who put immense efforts into communicating with the transportation departments in Jiangsu province, Suzhou city, Kunshan city and Shanghai municipality about capital investment, operation management and maintenance.

The officials, who attended the opening ceremony, included Jiang Shujie, Deputy Director of Shanghai Urban-Rural Development and Transport Commission; Qian Guochao, Deputy Director of Jiangsu Provincial Communications Department; Wu Jianping, vice leader of Shanghai Transport Police Corps; Zhanghua, Secretary of Kunshan Communist Party Commission, Guan Aiguo; Mayor of Kunshan; Ren Xueyuan, Director of the Managing Committee of Huaqiao economic development zone and vice directors Shen Huafei, Zhang Jianwen, Tang Naixin and Cheng Wenrong.

The Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway began construction on June 14th, 1992, with the major work commencing on January 18th, 1993. The project was completed on September 15th, 1996. On November 28th, the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway opened to traffic.

The completion of this highway has been effective in improving the conditions of transport between Jiangsu Province’s Sunan and areas in Shanghai, and promoting economic development along the highway.

But with rapidity economic development of the Yangtze River Delta and accelerated formation of city groups in recent years, the volume of traffic is rapidly growing and worsening congestion. The Shanghai-Nanjing expressway was unable to satisfy growing economic needs and social development. To address this issue, the Jiangsu provincial government decided to expand the Shanghai-Nanjing expressway in May of 2003, making Shanghai-Nanjing expressway the golden path for the rapid economic growth of the Yangtze River Delta.

The Shanghai-Nanjing expressway begins in Zhenru, Shanghai, continues through Anting between the border of Shanghai and Jiangsu, Kunshan, Suzhou, Shuofang, Wuxi, Hengshan, Changzhou, Danyang, Zhenjiang, Jurong in the Jiangsu Province, and ends in Maqun, Nanjing. It spans a total of 274 kilometers.

The Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway is an important component of the Shanghai- Hangzhou-Ningbo expressway and was listed as one of the key national construction projects in 1996. It is a fully-isolated, interchanged, high-level, multi-functional modern highway. The highway’s main line roadbed is 26 meters with four two-way lanes; each lane has a width of 3.75 meters. There are central medians 3 meters in width and a 2 meter wide external emergency parking area. This expressway is designed for an average vehicle speed of about 120km per hour and a daily passing capacity of 60,000 times. There are a total of 431 bridges of all sizes, 294 tunnels, and 20 interchanges built on this expressway.

By Lucy