A TWO-WAY four-lane tunnel will be built to the south of and running parallel to the Chunfeng Flyover on Binhe Road to relieve serious traffic congestion.

    The tunnel, linking Binhe Boulevard and Binhe Road, is expected to increase the capacity of Chunfeng Road by 105 percent.

    The Xinxiu and Luofang flyovers will also be renovated to make travel between Luohu and Yantian districts faster, according to the city’s transport commission.

    The projects marks the beginning of Shenzhen’s plan to build a fast road corridor that runs along the border with Hong Kong and parallel with Binhai Boulevard, Beihuan Boulevard and the Nanping Expressway.

    The plan was proposed in 2003, but ultimately shelved due to design issues and land use issues.

    The latest plan from the city’s transport commission showed the proposed fast road corridor starts from the Binhai Flyover on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway in the west and links with the Eastern Coastal Expressway in the east.

    It will run 20 kilometers, passing by the Mangrove Forest Nature Reserve, Futian Bonded Zone, Futian Checkpoint, Huanggang Checkpoint, Chiwei Village, Nanhua Village, Binhe Sewage Treatment Plant, Ludancun housing estate, Wenjindu Checkpoint and Liantang.

    According to the commission, the eastern section of the road starting at Huanggang Checkpoint will be built underground. The project will be divided into three parts, split up by Huanggang Checkpoint and Wenjindu Checkpoint.

    The 4.5-kilometer western section between Binhai Boulevard and Huanggang Checkpoint will be eight lanes wide after renovation of the existing Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway.

    The 15.8-kilometer central and eastern sections from Huanggang Checkpoint to Eastern Coastal Expressway will be built underground. The whole project is budgeted at 15 billion yuan (US$2.35 billion), 5 billion yuan more than the budget three years ago. (Han Ximin)