In the early summer season, project construction is surging across Xiaonan. At each construction point along the western extension of the Qiaoxiao Expressway, the golden construction period is being seized, with machinery operating in an orderly manner and builders pressing ahead with construction. As a key transportation infrastructure project in the Wuhan metropolitan area, the entire line is advancing construction steadily in sections, and the project is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in June 2027. As of May this year, construction of the key bid sections of the project has passed the halfway mark, and overall construction is steadily advancing toward the annual milestone targets.

The western extension of the Qiaoxiao Expressway is a key project for improving the expressway network in the northwestern part of the Wuhan metropolitan area and occupies an important position in the regional comprehensive transportation layout.

The route starts at Huangduzui, Maochen Town, Xiaonan District, connecting directly with Phase II of the Qiaoxiao Expressway, and is supported by a branch line connecting to the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway. The route runs south of Provincial Highway 419 and north of the Fu River, crosses over National Highway 107, passes through Maochen and Wolong in Xiaonan District, crosses the Huan River and enters Yunmeng County, and finally reaches the west side of Sanhe Town, Yingcheng City, where it connects with the Wuhan Metropolitan Area Ring Expressway. The entire line is designed to a two-way, six-lane standard, with a subgrade width of 34 meters and a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

Among these, the Xiaonan section is the starting section of the project and an important area through which the route passes. It includes the main line, branch line, and interchange ramps, with a total length of 22.53 kilometers. The route radiates to a total of 15 administrative villages in two townships, Maochen Town and Wolong Township, including 10 villages in Maochen Town and 5 villages in Wolong Township. The overall route layout is scientific and reasonable, making it a key link connecting multiple counties and districts and linking several major expressways.

At present, the three bid sections of the Xiaonan section are carrying out coordinated construction and staggered scheduling of work processes, and overall construction is proceeding steadily and in an orderly manner. Among them, Bid Section II, with a total length of 10.229 kilometers, is a key construction section, spanning 5 administrative villages in Maochen Town and 3 administrative villages in Wolong Township.

This bid section has a relatively high proportion of bridges. The main line requires the construction of 9 medium and large bridges, including the Gunzi River East Branch No. 2 Extra-Large Bridge, the Liangguo Road Extra-Large Bridge, and the Shuanglong Village Extra-Large Bridge, with a total length of 6.583 kilometers. In addition, 7 ramp bridges totaling 1.346 kilometers are included, leaving only 3.646 kilometers of main-line subgrade, plus 7.35 kilometers of supporting ramps for the Xiaogan South Interchange and service area. The bid section requires the completion of 1,317 pile foundations and 2,738 precast small box girders, with large-span steel-concrete and steel box girder structures used in many places to cross the tributaries and main stream of the Gunzi River.

As of the end of May 2026, overall construction progress of Bid Section II has reached 59%, of which 1,244 bridge pile foundations have been completed, accounting for 94% of the total; pier columns are 72% complete, girder slab prefabrication is 54% complete, and erection is 48% complete.

Affected by geological and land-use factors, subgrade earthwork and stonework construction has progressed relatively slowly, with only 15% of the total completed cumulatively. According to the construction plan, the civil engineering works of this bid section will be basically completed by the end of 2026, after which construction will shift to pavement and ancillary facilities. The other Bid Sections I and III are also closely following the construction milestones, forming a construction pattern across the entire line in which multiple points advance in parallel and efforts are accelerated to tackle key challenges.

From the perspective of transportation construction, once the project is completed, it will open a direct expressway connection among Xiaonan, Yunmeng, and Yingcheng, link multiple trunk lines such as the Qiaoxiao Expressway, the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, and the Wuhan City Circle Ring Expressway, fill the gap in the expressway network in western Xiaogan, optimize the road network layout of the Wuhan metropolitan area, effectively divert traffic from National Highway 107, greatly alleviate road traffic congestion in the new and old urban areas of Xiaogan, and continuously improve the modern infrastructure system.

From the perspective of people's livelihood and well-being, the expressway runs through 15 villages along the route, thoroughly improving travel conditions for the people along the line, shortening travel time between urban and rural areas and for cross-county commuting, significantly reducing logistics costs for transporting agricultural products out of the area, and enabling villagers to find employment nearby and develop planting, breeding, production, and sales based on the benefits brought by transportation, thereby genuinely enhancing the people's sense of gain and happiness.

From the perspective of economic development, the convenient expressway network will continuously optimize Xiaogan's business environment, strengthen the hardware supporting facilities for investment promotion, help Xiaogan deeply integrate into Wuhan's urban integration, undertake the spillover of Wuhan's industrial resources, activate the potential of modern agriculture, rural tourism, and commercial logistics industries along the route, and drive the industrial transformation and upgrading of townships along the line. After the project is completed and put into use, it will continuously release transportation benefits and provide strong support for Xiaogan to optimize its urban image, gather development factors, and accelerate the improvement of quality and efficiency of the entire regional economy.

At present, all participating construction units along the entire line are firmly seizing the golden window period for construction, working against the clock with reverse schedules and wall-mounted charts, and steadily advancing the remaining project construction. As construction continues to move forward, this major transportation artery connecting Xiaoyunying and linking to Greater Wuhan is taking shape day by day and will become an important engine for convenience to the people and prosperity of business and for boosting Xiaogan's high-quality development in the future.

Source: Hubei Daily