A proposed cross-river tunnel parallel to the Zhuhai Bridge that is now in the design stage would remain open during typhoons, the Zhuhai Highway Bureau announced at a July 2 press conference.

Construction is to take four and a half years while progress is made on several other major transportation projects that were also brought up to date at the briefing.

Zhuhai Tunnel stats

The Zhuhai Tunnel will provide an extreme-weather alternative to the heavily traveled Zhuhai Bridge. It would be 5.1 km (3 miles) long and run 15 m (16 yd) south of the bridge. From Zhuhai Avenue, it will pass under the auxiliary road and then cross the Modaomen Waterway and Guadingjiao Mt to reconnect with the east-west thoroughfare. The 4.52-km (2.8-mile) below-surface section will have dual six lanes with a designed speed of 80 kmph (50 mph).

Longer Zhuhai Avenue

Farther west, the extension project of Zhuhai Avenue will begin later this year and last two and a half years. The route will go 4.55 km (3 miles) from the Zhuhai Bridge to west of the Niwanmen Bridge in Jinwan District. 

Rendering of Zhuhai Tunnel entrance

The extension calls for building 1.28 km (.8 miles) including immersed tunnels beneath the Hezhou-Gaolan Port Expressway. It will be a dual eight-lane highway with designed speed of 100 kmph (65 mph), and 80 kmph (50 mph) for the 675-m (738-yd) tunnel section. Meanwhile, 4.55 km (2.83 miles) of auxiliary road will be constructed with dual six lanes and a speed limit of 50 kmph (31 mph).

Jiuzhou, Jingshan paved

In the east, transformation of asphalt pavement on Jiuzhou (Dadao) Avenue and Jingshan Road will be completed this year. Jiuzhou is a 7.2-km (4.5-mile) dual eight-lane thoroughfare from Qianshan Interchange to Central Lovers Avenue, and Jingshan is a 1.7-km (1-mile) dual six-lane structure from South Haibin Road to Jiuzhou Avenue in Jida.

Ningxi construction

In the meantime, construction on the south and north sections of Xingye Express Road in Ningxi is to be completed by 2022, as will its Yingbin Road feeder. Work on its south section, however, may obstruct traffic to some degree on Renmin and Ningxi roads in upcoming months.

Mountain openings

Nearby, the dual-lane tunnels and a two-way slow-traffic passage being built under Banzhang Mt will open to traffic in the first half of 2020. Already excavated have been 2,700 m (2,950 yd) out of 3,690 m (4,035 yd) of passageway. With a designed speed of 60 kmph (37 mph), they will form a dual eight-lane passage supplementing the current Banzhang Mt Tunnel.

Zhuhai Avenue extension from Zhuhai Bridge in the northeast to Niwanmen Bridge in the southwest [Photos courtesy WeChat account: zhtv_n21]

Qianshan route to open

In the north, officials said that the major part of the dual four-lane Central Meijie Road will open to traffic before year's end. An urban arterial road in Shangchong of Qianshan, it spans 1.6 km (1 mile) from Lvyou to Lixi roads.

More avenue to love

Along the Macao border, the 9.35-km (5.8-mile) Gongbei Checkpoint-Hengqin Bridge section of Lovers Avenue will become a dual six-lane structure with a speed limit of 60 kmph except for the dual four-lane passage under North Wanzai and Shizimen Intercity MRT stations. The major part of the renovated road is slated to open by December.

That's not all

In other work, a pedestrian overpass will take the place of the old Haiyan Bridge to Yeli Island in Wanzaisha and open before National Day. And, expected to open by next July is Jinqin Express Road from the intersection of Gangwan Avenue and Jinfeng Road in Jinding Town of Tangjiawan, connecting to the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in the south and Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor sea channel to the north.