Zhejiang works toward transportation integration of YRD region

Fuchimen Bridge is part of an island-connecting highway in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/IC]

A highway is currently under construction near Qianqiuguan Pass on Tianmu Mountain at the border between Zhejiang and Anhui provinces in East China.

The interprovincial highway, which is part of efforts by local authorities to integrate the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region (consisting of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai), will facilitate transportation between western and central Zhejiang, southern Anhui, and Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

Fuziling village in Huzhou's Changxing county, around 100 kilometers to the north of Qianqiuguan Pass, is the location of another construction project – the Hangzhou-Nanjing Highway, which connects the provincial capitals of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, is currently being widened. The widened highway, which is 91 percent complete and will be finished by the end of this year, will accommodate a greater traffic volume between the two provinces.

Huzhou in Zhejiang province is the site of two ongoing railway projects: the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou High-speed Railway and Huzhou-Hangzhou High-speed Railway. After the railways are completed, Huzhou will be at the intersection of numerous high-speed railway lines and will become a new transportation hub in the YRD region.

At sea, a 16-billion-yuan ($2.3 billion) island-connecting highway is being built in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang and is expected to begin operating next year. The provincial government is currently negotiating with Shanghai authorities to span the highway across Hangzhou Bay, aiming to boost land transport between Shanghai Port and Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world's first and fourth largest ports by container throughput, respectively. In the future, the YRD region will become home to the longest island-connecting highway and the largest cluster of cross-sea bridges in the world.

In recent years, Zhejiang authorities have been pushing forward the integrated development of the YRD region by strengthening transportation connectivity. In cooperation with Jiangsu, Anhui, and Shanghai, Zhejiang is building interprovincial roads and rail lines, forming world-class clusters of ports and airports, and integrating the management of transportation services.