From July 21 to July 23, the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Department of Transportation jointly organized a feasibility study report review meeting in Beijing for the reconstruction and expansion project of the Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Expressway and the project to add the Tiantai East Interchange on the Shangyu-Sanmen Expressway.

The Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Expressway was completed and opened to traffic on December 31, 2003. It is the "main artery" of north-south highway transportation in Taizhou and has provided strong support for the sustained and rapid growth of Taizhou's regional economy.

At present, the average daily traffic volume of the Taizhou section exceeds 50,000 vehicles, with some sections approaching 80,000 vehicles, far higher than the upper limit of 55,000 vehicles per day for a four-lane expressway. In particular, sections such as the Maoliling Tunnel Group frequently experience congestion and increasing safety hazards, making them among the most serious bottlenecks on expressways in the province. Reconstruction and expansion are therefore highly necessary and urgent.

The Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Expressway reconstruction and expansion project has been included in the "14th Five-Year Plan for Comprehensive Transportation Development of Zhejiang Province" and the "Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting High-Level Transportation Strong Province Infrastructure Construction in Zhejiang Province (2020-2022)". It is also listed as one of Zhejiang Province's top 100 projects worth 100 billion yuan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and is one of the ten landmark projects of Taizhou's comprehensive transportation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

The total investment of this reconstruction and expansion project is approximately 27.7 billion yuan, and the main line is about 83 kilometers long. It starts at the Mao'aoiling Tunnel in Sanmen County, follows the existing Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Expressway alignment, and ends at the Daxiling Tunnel in Wenling City. The entire line is planned to be widened into a two-way eight-lane expressway, with some sections having two-way ten lanes, mainly following the principle of "widening by joining both sides, with local separation or one-side widening." The Yuanqiao Interchange will be relocated and reconstructed (with a service area added), and a new Yuanqiao connecting line of about 5.3 kilometers will be built; five interchanges will be partially reconstructed, and two new interchanges will be added. After completion, the speed limit on some sections can be raised from 100 km/h to 120 km/h.

Experts conduct on-site surveys

Further clarify the project implementation plan

Given the complex environment of the reconstruction and expansion project, the diverse widening schemes, the numerous bridges, tunnels, and interchange structures, and the complex traffic operations, the feasibility study report passed the review after on-site surveys and thorough demonstration by leaders of the Provincial Department of Transportation and the expert group. The project implementation plan was further clarified, laying a solid foundation for obtaining approval of the feasibility study as soon as possible.