Jilin province has announced that it began work on a major transportation project for the Northeast, on March 27 -- a 340–kilometer stretch of road near Changbai Mountain that is part of a larger 1,474-km Hegang-Dalian Highway connecting Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces.

That project got State Council approval for regional economic revitalization and is expected to open to traffic by the end of 2016.

Construction workers construct steel bridge supports at a site on the highway project, in Jilin province. [Photo/chinajilin.com.cn]

The province says it has plans to spend big on highway construction --- 24.4 billion yuan ($ 3.7 billion) on 12 highway projects -- and expects to complete four of them by the end of this year.

It says that this is a crucial socioeconomic development with more technology and government funding than any previous project of its kind in the province and, according to the project director, Cui Weiwu, "We got started half a month early to ensure the road will open to traffic by the end of October."