PHASE II of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Riverside Expressway — designed to provide local drivers with easy access to the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport — opened yesterday in tandem with the opening of the Shenzhong Link. The expressway not only connects to the Shenzhong Link, but also to the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway and Jihe Expressway, greatly enhancing expressway connectivity in the eastern and western regions of Shenzhen. With a total length of 5.7 kilometers, this section of the expressway runs from the Jihe Expressway’s Huanghe Tollgate to the Shenzhong Link’s Eastern Artificial Island. The Airport Interchange Overpass and Hezhou Overpass, both integral parts of Phase II of the project, have been completed. The two-way expressway features eight traffic lanes in both directions and has a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour. The project also included the construction of an interchange overpass that provides direct access to the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center in Bao’an District, which has been operational since 2019. With the opening of Phase II, the travel time between the Shenzhen airport and the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Riverside Expressway has been shortened to less than 20 minutes. Before Phase II was opened, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Riverside Expressway did not have a direct connection to the Shenzhen airport. This meant that drivers coming from the southwestern part of Shenzhen had to take a detour after exiting the riverside expressway at the Xixiang Tollgate to reach the airport. Yesterday also marked the start of services at the Zhongshan Terminal of the Shenzhen airport, which serves passengers on the western side of the Pearl River Estuary. Located at the Zhongshan Expo Center, this terminal boasts check-in facilities, ticket counters, and luggage transport services. Travelers can board shuttle buses at the terminal and reach the Shenzhen airport via the Shenzhong Link in approximately 55 minutes. A fleet of 72 shuttle buses will be deployed to provide transportation between the Zhongshan Terminal and the Shenzhen airport. Passengers can board shuttles at the Zhongshan Expo Center from 3:10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and at the Shenzhen airport from 7 a.m. to 4 a.m., with shuttles leaving every 30 to 40 minutes. In another development, the Zhongshan section of the Zhongshan-Kaiping Expressway also opened to the public yesterday. The expressway is part of Guangdong Province’s highway network plan. The total length of the expressway is approximately 129.7 kilometers, with an estimated investment of about 45.2 billion yuan (US$6.34 billion). It includes 24 interchanges, three service areas, and 16 toll stations. (Claudia Wei) | 