New solution for CBD's traffic nightmare

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-13 09:48

Underground roadways, lanes for motor scooters, multiple subway terminals - these are several solutions set to ease traffic congestion in Beijing's business center, direct from some of the world's most respected minds from the field of urban planning.

Yesterday, the city unveiled seven proposals from the world's leading design firms, whose task was to renovate the densely populated central business district in the city.

While some proposals focus on low-carbon technology, and others emphasize upward expansion, all address the pressing question of how residents can most efficiently maneuver between crowded streets and skyscrapers.

The latest figures show Beijing will soon boast a car population of four million by the end of this year, and it will require only two years for Beijing's car community to grow by another one million, which in major cities in developed nations, normally takes ten years to achieve.

Urban planners said they have included the thorny issue in their proposals.

"There will be multifunctional terminals underground to channel the heavy traffic from one building to another," said Francois Tamisier, chief architect for a leading urban planning firm Aeroports de Paris, who made proposal "No 7" at the exhibition.

Wang Qingfeng, director of the planning division of the Beijing CBD administration committee, also said the government supports utilizing the vast underground space in the CBD to build circuits for the thousands of motorists who drive to work each morning.

"We would like to see cyclists and scooters travel freely on the roads. That's why we support proposals of building a underground circuit in the new CBD, similar to the Zhongguancun circuit," he told METRO.

The municipal government in May decided to double the size of Beijing's CBD by turning more residential communities into commercially successful business clusters during a time span of six to eight years. But the public now has a rare opportunity to contribute ideas to the 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) project as well as select their favorites.