The Guangdong section of the Yulin-Zhanjiang Expressway was opened to traffic on Sept 17, which marked the opening of the whole expressway.

The opening ceremony for the Guangdong section of the Yulin-Zhanjiang Expressway is held at the Chikan Toll Station in Zhanjiang on Sept 17. [Photo by Zhang Fengfeng and Li Jiabin/Zhanjiang Daily]

Covering about 196 kilometers, the expressway links Yulin in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Zhanjiang in Guangdong province. The Guangxi section of the expressway was opened to traffic on June 30.

The Guangdong section of the expressway starts from Zhanjiang's Juntian village, which is at the intersection of Guangxi and Guangdong, goes through Lianjiang, Suixi county and Mazhang district of Zhanjiang, then ends at Donghai Island in the southeastern part of the city. It is 100.93 km long, of which the main line stretches 92.76 km and the Haitian branch line is 8.17 km.

An aerial view of the interchange of the Guangdong section of the Yulin-Zhanjiang Expressway. [Photo/Zhanjiang Daily]

With the whole expressway open, the driving time between Zhanjiang and Yulin has been shortened from four hours to one and a half hours.

As one of the nine exit channels connecting Guangxi in Guangdong's expressway network, the Yulin-Zhanjiang Expressway is expected to become a major transportation channel linking cities in the Beibu Gulf, playing a significant role in promoting regional economic development and completing the local transportation network.

Construction of the expressway started in 2017.