The Guangxi Expressway Construction Work Press Conference was held in Nanning. This year, Guangxi's expressway construction continues to advance rapidly, with the completion of five projects: Guigang-Hepu, Guilin-Sanjiang, Wuzhou-Liuzhou, Mailing-Hezhou (Zhongshan-Fuchuan section), and Ziyuan (Meixi)-Xing'an. Six new projects are planned to start construction: Datang-Pubei, Rongshui-Hechi, Guilin-Liucheng, Long'an-Shuolong, Hezhou-Bama (Mengshan-Xiangzhou section), and Guanyang-Pingle.
11 expressways to open or start construction this year
According to the "Guangxi Expressway Network Planning Revision (2010-2020)" approved by the Autonomous Region People's Government, by the end of 2020, the total planned expressway mileage in the region will exceed 8,000 kilometers, achieving expressway access for all counties (cities and districts) in the region.
From 2012 to 2016, Guangxi's expressway construction accelerated comprehensively. In the five years, 19 new expressway projects were started, 20 expressway projects totaling 1,849 kilometers were completed and opened to traffic, 20 additional counties gained expressway access, and the county-level expressway access rate reached 85%. As of the end of last year, expressways reached all 14 prefecture-level cities and 85% of counties (cities and districts) in the region, with 16 sea, border, and inter-provincial corridors completed (including 4 sea, 2 border, and 10 inter-provincial), connecting with at least two expressway corridors to adjacent provinces or countries, basically forming a major expressway corridor network spanning east-west and north-south, and providing access to the sea, borders, and other provinces.
This year, the region's expressway construction investment plan is 45.9 billion yuan, with 5 projects planned for completion, 6 new starts, and 16 continuing projects. Among the 5 planned completion projects, the Guigang-Hepu and Guilin-Sanjiang expressways were opened to traffic in October, the Wuzhou-Liuzhou and Mailing-Hezhou (Zhongshan-Fuchuan section) expressways were completed and opened to traffic on December 22, and the Ziyuan (Meixi)-Xing'an expressway is planned to be completed and opened to traffic today. Thus, the total expressway mileage open to traffic in Guangxi will reach 5,259 kilometers, with four additional counties—Longsheng, Fuchuan, Ziyuan, and Pubei—gaining expressway access, bringing the total to 98 counties (cities and districts) with expressway access, and the county (city and district) expressway access rate to 88.2%.
In addition, six new projects totaling 688 kilometers are planned to start construction. Among them, five expressways—Datang-Pubei, Rongshui-Hechi, Guilin-Liucheng, Long'an-Shuolong, and Hezhou-Bama (Mengshan-Xiangzhou section)—have already started, and the Guanyang-Pingle expressway is planned to start on December 29. Of the 16 continuing projects, the Liuzhou (Luzhai)-Nanning reconstruction and expansion project has entered pavement construction, and the subgrade works of the Wuxu Airport-Datang expressway are basically completed.
Expressway mileage to reach 8,000 kilometers by 2020
It is reported that since 2014, Guangxi has started construction of 24 expressway projects, striving to achieve a total expressway mileage of over 8,000 kilometers by the end of 2020 in about seven years. By then, the international expressway corridor facing ASEAN, the north-south corridor connecting the Eurasian Continental Bridge and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and the sea-access corridor supporting the opening and development of the southwest and central-south regions will be fully completed.
Next, Guangxi will accelerate the construction of expressways directly connecting ports, such as Jingxi-Longbang, Chongzuo-Shuikou, and Long'an-Shuolong; accelerate the construction of inter-provincial sections linking Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangdong, and Hunan, such as Leye-Baise, Yulin-Zhanjiang, Tianlin-Xilin, and Hezhou-Lianshan, to further open up inter-provincial corridors and form convenient multi-path inter-provincial connections.
In addition, focusing on improving the overall efficiency of the regional road network, Guangxi will build a batch of expressways to strengthen regional connections and connect county towns. It will accelerate key projects such as Lipu-Yulin, Hechi-Baise, Guanyang-Pingle, Hezhou-Bama, and Guigang-Long'an. For some expressway sections that have been built for a long time, with saturated traffic volumes and tight transport capacity, such as Liuzhou-Nanning, Nanning-Qinzhou-Fangchenggang, and Qinzhou-Beihai, capacity expansion and reconstruction projects will be accelerated to improve the traffic capacity and service level of major corridors.
A total of 4 corridors planned to connect Vietnam
Guangxi is actively promoting the construction of the southbound corridor for connectivity with ASEAN countries. At present, a total of 4 expressway corridor connection points to Vietnam and ASEAN countries are planned. Within Guangxi, 2 border-crossing expressway corridors have been completed and opened to traffic, namely Nanning-Youyiguan and Fangcheng-Dongxing expressways; 2 are under construction, namely Jingxi-Longbang and Chongzuo-Shuikou expressways, planned to be completed and opened to traffic in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
On the Vietnamese side, the Hanoi-Lang Son-Youyiguan (port) and Hanoi-Mong Cai-Dongxing (port) expressways are under construction and have not yet connected with the completed expressway corridor connection points on our side; the Hanoi-Cao Bang-Longbang (port) and Hanoi-Cao Bang-Shuikou (port) expressway projects are in the planning stage. Once these four China-Vietnam expressways are fully connected, they will become the most convenient land corridors from China's southwest and central-south regions and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to ASEAN.
The 5 expressways opened this year
●Guilin-Sanjiang Expressway
Starting from Miaotou Village, Lingui Town, Lingui County, Guilin City, and ending at Tangchao Village, Dudong Township, connecting with the Shuikou-Duyun section of the Xiarong Expressway in Guizhou Province. The route is about 134 kilometers long, with the main line built to a two-way four-lane expressway standard and a design speed of 100 km/h. Upon completion, it will link numerous famous tourist attractions and county-level customs in Guangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou.
●Guigang-Hepu Expressway
Starting from Lutang Village, Gangnan District, Guigang City, connecting with the Watang Interchange of the Wuzhou-Guigang Expressway, and ending at the south of Shiwan Town, Hepu County, connecting with the Shiwan Interchange of the Nanning-Beihai Expressway. The route is 152 kilometers long, built to a two-way four-lane expressway standard with a design speed of 120 km/h.
●Mailing-Hezhou Expressway (Zhongshan-Fuchuan Section)
Starting 1.4 kilometers east of the No. 24 provincial boundary marker at the Hunan-Guangxi border in Mailing, connecting with the Hunan section of the Daoxian (Hunan)-Hezhou (Guangxi) Expressway, and ending at Huilong, near the Huilong Interchange of the Hezhou Branch of the Guilin-Wuzhou Expressway. It is 84 kilometers long. The main line is built to a two-way four-lane expressway standard with a design speed of 100 km/h.
●Ziyuan-Xing'an Expressway
Starting from Mayichong, Huaxi Village, at the Hunan-Guangxi border in Meixi Township, Ziyuan County, Guilin City, connecting north to the Dongkou-Xinning Expressway in Hunan, and ending near Tangbao Village, Yanguan Town, Xing'an County, Guilin City, connecting with the Xing'an-Guilin Expressway. The route is about 83 kilometers long, built to a two-way four-lane expressway standard with a design speed of 100 km/h.
●Wuzhou-Liuzhou Expressway
Starting near Daoshui Town, Changzhou District, Wuzhou City, connecting with the Guilin-Wuzhou Expressway and the Wuzhou Ring Expressway, and ending near Bijia Mountain about 3 kilometers north of the Liuzhou East Interchange in Liuzhou City, connecting with the Guilin-Liuzhou Expressway. The total length is 213 kilometers, and the main line is built to a two-way four-lane expressway standard.