SHENZHEN drivers to northern Guangdong and Hunan have another option with the opening of the 302-km Guangzhou-Lechang Expressway on Saturday after five years of construction.

    The new expressway’s northern end is in Xiaotang, a border town between Hunan and Guangdong, and its southern end is in Huadu, Guangzhou. The expressway goes through Lechang, Shaoguan, Yingde and Qingyuan. It is connected with Guangzhou Airport Expressway and Zhaohua Express (Zhaoqing-Huadu).

    Shenzhen drivers can take Airport Expressway and turn onto Guangzhou-Lechang Expressway.

    The 33.3-billion-yuan (US$5.33-billion) expressway, which runs almost parallel with Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, was designed to solve the safety problems of a 35-km slope on the northern Guangdong section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, which could freeze in the winter because of its high altitude and is often shrouded by fog.

    Frozen surfaces on the expressway have led to accidents, disruptions and congestion in the winter. The altitude of Guangzhou-Lechang Expressway is below 398 meters, much lower than the maximum 806-meter altitude of the northern Guangdong section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, greatly reducing risks associated with icy roads.

    The new expressway will hopefully divert 60-70 percent of vehicles from Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in northern Guangdong and become a major expressway to Hunan.

    According to Huang Xiao-dong, Party chief of the expressway company, the first wave of holiday vehicles will arrive tomorrow. At 0.6 yuan per kilometer, the toll for the whole trip is 161 yuan.

    The opening of the expressway Saturday also means the total length of expressways in Guangdong now reaches more than 6,000 km.  (Han Ximin)