Quanzhou will build its first undersea tunnel—the Donghai Channel, connecting the eastern area of Jinjiang City with the Donghai area, the administrative center of Quanzhou. Once completed and open to traffic, the distance between the economically developed coastal areas of Jinjiang and Shishi and the Donghai area, the administrative center of Quanzhou, will be greatly shortened. According to reports, the project will be organized and constructed by the Quanzhou Transportation Development Group, which was inaugurated on the 16th of this month. This was the news confirmed at the preliminary work meeting on the Donghai Channel held by the Quanzhou Municipal Government on the morning of the day before yesterday. Core issues such as how to build the project and when to start and complete construction still need to be clarified.
　　[Planning Concept]
　　4-minute undersea crossing connecting Jinjiang and Donghai
　　It is understood that the Donghai Channel starts at the easternmost end of the second phase of the eastward extension of Shuanglong Road in Jinjiang (from Xiedu Road to the Coastal Avenue), then crosses the Jinjiang coastal avenue, the riverbed of the Jinjiang River, and the Quanzhou coastal avenue, ending at Binhai Street in Donghai, Quanzhou. According to the planning concept, the Donghai Channel is proposed to be designed as an urban arterial road, with no freight vehicles; large vehicles will mainly be buses and coaches; it will have six lanes in both directions; the total length is about 4.235 kilometers. Estimated at a design speed of 60 km/h, crossing the tunnel will take only about 4 minutes.
　　The reporter learned from Quanzhou Transportation Development Group that the special meeting that day only preliminarily completed the comparison and selection of technical schemes, and basically determined core issues such as the route alignment, width, and the adoption of an undersea tunnel. Next, a large amount of preliminary work will be carried out, including detailed geological exploration, preliminary design, project approval, and submission to the expert group of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission for review.
　　It is understood that as early as 2012, the Quanzhou planning department proposed building the Donghai Bridge, with a route basically consistent with the Donghai Channel.
　　[On-site Visit]
　　Starting point still undeveloped; endpoint already densely surrounded by residential areas
　　The reporter came to the intersection of Shuanglong Road and the Coastal Avenue in Jinjiang. This is a T-shaped three-way intersection, next to the Tuanjie Sluice. Shuanglong Road has eight lanes in both directions, with two auxiliary lanes on each side, while the Coastal Avenue has six lanes in both directions. At the end of the three-way intersection is a coastal shelterbelt more than ten meters high, behind which is the Jinjiang River rolling into the sea. Looking across, one can see the Donghai area with its forest of high-rise buildings.
　　In the future, Jinjiang Shuanglong Road will bring important landmarks along the road—such as Jinjiang Railway Station, Jinjiang International Airport, the Jinjiang Second Sports Center planned to start construction next month and serve the 18th World Middle School Games in 2020, the International Shoe and Textile City, as well as the Quanzhou Administrative Center and the Donghai area—all within its radiation range, accelerating the eastward expansion of Jinjiang's main urban area and its active integration into Quanzhou's bay-oriented development, boosting the integrated development of Quanzhou Bay cities, and even becoming another economic development axis of the bay-area Quanzhou.
　　Detouring via the Jinjiang Bridge, the distance from the starting point to the endpoint is about 15 kilometers and takes nearly 20 minutes; once the tunnel is completed, it will take only 4 minutes. Unlike the starting point, which is still farmland with no residents within one or two kilometers, the endpoint is densely surrounded by modern residential communities such as Haiyuefu, Donghaiwan·Shi'er Yan, and Donghaiwan·Yuhuayuan.
　　[Public Reaction]
　　Living in Donghai and working in Jinjiang will be much more convenient in the future
　　The news that the Donghai Channel will be built has attracted considerable public attention. "With the rolling river above, the way home may be much more interesting." Hearing that the Donghai Channel will be built, Ms. Yan, who lives in Donghaiwan in the urban area of Quanzhou, is very much looking forward to it and even a little excited.
　　Ms. Yan works at a public institution on Century Avenue in the urban area of Jinjiang. She usually drives to and from work, generally taking Pengqing Road in Chendai or Xiedu Road and Jinxin Road to reach the Jinjiang Bridge. A trip home often takes 40 to 50 minutes, and even more than an hour when there is traffic congestion. "It feels like I could go to Xiamen in that time. After the Donghai Channel opens, I won't have to waste so much time on the road commuting anymore."
　　Mr. Zhuang, a staff member of a municipal government agency in Quanzhou, lives near Huguang Road in Qingyang, Jinjiang. Every day he has to cross the Chendai area of Jinjiang to commute, spending 1.5 to 2 hours on the road, and even longer if there is traffic congestion. "If the Donghai Channel opens, this commuting route will be much more convenient."