The current shortage of river crossing channels between the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary is expected to be alleviated. In addition to the under-construction Humen Second Bridge and Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, another river crossing channel is about to begin preliminary preparation. Recently, Guangdong Provincial Transportation Group issued a tender announcement, announcing that the Lianhuashan River Crossing Channel, connecting Panyu and Dongguan, will begin public bidding for marine environmental impact assessment.

　　Entrusted by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation, Guangdong Provincial Transportation Group is conducting preliminary research on the Lianhuashan River Crossing Channel. The tender announcement is for public bidding on the project's marine environmental impact assessment, sea area use demonstration, and project environmental impact assessment.

　　The Lianhuashan River Crossing Channel is located in the core area of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and serves as a direct river crossing link between Guangzhou and Dongguan on the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary. The project has been included in the "Pearl River Estuary River Crossing Channel Overall Plan" (Yue Fu Han [2012] No. 274) and the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Guangdong Province's Comprehensive Transportation System" (Yue Fa Gai Jiao [2017] No. 297). The main function of the Lianhuashan River Crossing Channel is to strengthen transportation links between Panyu, Foshan, and the northwestern part of Dongguan and northern Huizhou. Its construction will play an important role in meeting the growing demand for river crossing traffic, alleviating the current traffic congestion on existing highway river crossings in the Pearl River Estuary, improving the layout and function of the highway network in the Pearl River Delta, achieving infrastructure integration, promoting coordinated economic integration between the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong and Macao, and accelerating interconnection and coordinated development within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

　　In terms of project location, the Lianhuashan River Crossing Channel is approximately 9.5 kilometers north of Huangpu Bridge and about 13.5 kilometers south of Humen Second Bridge. The eastern end of the route starts at the Wangniudun Interchange of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, connecting to the planned Xinpai Expressway and Dongguan Ring Road, while the western end terminates in Panyu District, Guangzhou, connecting to Guangming Expressway and Lianhua Avenue. Via Guangming Expressway, it can connect to Guangzhou South Railway Station and Foshan First Ring Expressway. The total length is about 25 kilometers. If a bridge scheme is adopted for crossing the Shiziyang, a suspension bridge with a main span of over 1,800 meters will be built. The entire project is planned to adopt a dual-direction eight-lane expressway standard with a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour. The estimated investment is 10.2 billion yuan.

　　In addition to the Lianhuashan River Crossing Channel in preliminary preparation, there are currently three highway projects under construction across the Pearl River Estuary: the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Humen Second Bridge, and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link.

　　Recent project progress shows that the construction drawing design for the bridge project of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link has passed expert review and is about to fully enter the substantive construction stage. The Lingdingyang Bridge has been confirmed to adopt a suspension bridge type, with a deck height of 90 meters, equivalent to a 30-story building, and is expected to become the world's highest sea bridge in the future. The Humen Second Bridge project has just completed the steel box girder hoisting and closure of the 1,200-meter-span Dasha Waterway Bridge and the main cable compaction construction of the 1,688-meter-span Nizhou Waterway Bridge. The entire project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the fastest-progressing project, has been completed and is expected to open to traffic in the middle of this year.