On October 8, 2023, the reporter learned from the Xiangyang Municipal Transport Bureau that, in addition to the Xiangyang–Nanzhang Expressway currently under construction, Xiangyang City is making every effort to plan and advance the preliminary work for eight expressways, including Xiangyang–Yichang, Xiangyang–Xinye, and the Erguang Expressway reconstruction and expansion, two of which will start construction within the year.

The Xiangnan Expressway starts at Xiongmao Village, Yinji Township, Xiangcheng District, connecting with the southern section of the Xiangyang Ring Expressway, and ends at Fangjiaji Village, Jiuji Town, Nanzhang County, linking with the Xiangyang–Yichang Expressway. It has a total length of 17.5 kilometers and is a two-way, four-lane road. At present, the subgrade works of the project have basically been completed and connected, and pavement base construction is underway. It is expected to be completed and opened to traffic by the end of 2024.

The Xiangyang–Yichang Expressway and the Xiangyang–Xinye Expressway are scheduled to start construction within the year. The Xiangyang section of the Xiangyang–Yichang Expressway starts near Fangjiaji, Jiuji Town, Nanzhang County, connecting directly with the Xiangyang–Nanzhang Expressway, and extends south to connect with the Yichang section of the Xiangyi Expressway. It has a total length of about 56 kilometers and is a two-way, four-lane road. Project bidding is planned to be completed in October, and land acquisition and relocation work will be launched in November. The Xiangyang–Xinye Expressway starts at Shuanggou Town, Xiangzhou District, connects with the Fuyin Expressway at the Xiangyang East Hub, and extends north to end at the Hubei–Henan provincial border north of Zhuji, connecting directly with the proposed Nanyang–Xinye Expressway. It has a total length of about 28 kilometers and is a two-way, four-lane road. Project bidding is planned to be completed in October, and land acquisition and relocation work will be launched in November after project approval is completed.

The Xiangyang–Xinyang Expressway project is being actively promoted, with efforts to complete preliminary planning within the year and plans to officially start construction in 2024. In addition, the engineering feasibility study for the Laohekou–Nanzhang Expressway has been completed, and efforts are likewise being made to complete the preliminary work within the year, with construction expected to start in 2024, so as to further optimize the expressway network within the city.

The Xiangyang sections of the Fuyin and Erguang expressways, as important east–west and north–south transport arteries, are planned to be expanded from the current two-way, four-lane configuration to two-way, eight lanes. At present, public bidding has been carried out for the project's engineering feasibility study and preliminary design. The Municipal Transport Bureau is actively coordinating with the provincial transport department to better advance research on the plan, while also actively communicating with relevant departments such as environmental protection, resources, and water conservancy, making every effort to provide the necessary guarantees and services for the construction of the Xiangyang section expressways.

In addition, Xiangyang City is also planning to study corridor schemes for the Xiangyang–Yicheng and Xiangyang–Xiaogan expressways, and is actively coordinating with areas along the routes to adjust and reserve land and ecological red lines, so as to strive to include them in the provincial road network plan as soon as possible.

The head of the Xiangyang Municipal Transport Bureau stated that the transport department will uphold a pragmatic spirit of active striving and courageous progress, take projects as the core, increase investment in the transport sector, and, centering on the goal of "planning a batch, reserving a batch, starting a batch, and completing a batch," actively seek more funds, more favorable policies, and higher-quality projects to settle in Xiangyang, thereby contributing to accelerating the building of a national comprehensive transport hub city and supporting the high-quality development of the Xiangyang metropolitan area.