The Biandukou (Gansu-Qinghai border) to Menyuan (Ketuo) section of the G0611 Zhangye-Wenchuan Expressway (hereinafter referred to as the Bianmen Expressway) is a key transportation construction project in Qinghai Province's "13th Five-Year Plan" and a key project for 2018 designated by the provincial transportation department. To ensure the project starts on schedule this year, financing work is now underway.
It is reported that fully advancing the construction of the Bianmen Expressway is an important support for promoting transportation construction, expanding transportation investment, and achieving provincial economic growth under the new economic normal. It is of great significance for creating a new starting point for catching up and leapfrogging, stimulating a new engine for economic growth, and accomplishing the tasks of the "Qinghai Transportation 13th Five-Year Plan." To further consolidate the progress of work and ensure the project starts on schedule, according to arrangements, the Provincial High-Grade Highway Administration has begun and accelerated the progress of project financing.
The Bianmen Expressway is located within Haibei Prefecture, Qinghai Province. The route starts at Biandukou near the Qinghai-Gansu highway maintenance boundary and connects with the Zhangye-Biandukou Expressway planned by Gansu Province. The route continuously sets tunnels and bridges to cross the Qilian Mountains. After passing Ebao Town, the route is laid out along G227, with a tunnel crossing Jingyang Ridge. The route continues to be laid out along both sides of G227, passes under the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway Second Double-Track Line currently under construction north of Qingshizui, passes through Haomen Farm, Jinbatai, Beishan Township, Haomen Town, and Xitan Township, crosses G338 southward on the south side of Xishangen, passes through Quankoutai and Dongchuan Town, and then extends eastward along the north bank of the Datong River, ending at Ketukou in Dongchuan Town, Menyuan County, where it connects with the planned Datong-Xiaoshahe Expressway. The overall route runs from northwest to southeast. The preliminary design route of the Bianmen Expressway is about 150.035 kilometers long. It is a four-lane expressway with a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour.
The Bianmen Expressway is the first section of the "one vertical" route in Qinghai Province's expressway network of "three verticals, four horizontals, and ten connecting lines." Once completed, the project will be of great significance for opening up a major outbound corridor for Qinghai Province, forming a major regional corridor linking the Hexi Corridor area of Gansu, eastern Qinghai, and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone, and advancing the economic development of multiple provinces.