Fast lane to CIIE venue about to open

An underground tunnel providing convenient access to the venue of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) will open on Friday, Shanghai traffic police announced on Thursday.

The Beidi Road Tunnel, which links the Middle Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road in Changning District, is 2.3 kilometers in length.

The first of its ramps, on Jianhe Road, will open from 10am on Friday, while the remaining ramps will open next year.

The six-lane tunnel allows speed up to 60 kilometers per hour.

Opening at the same time will be two more ramps on Beihong Elevated Road, which connects Middle Ring Road with Beidi and Changning roads.

The road is a key juncture of Beiheng Passage, a 19-kilometer east-west road linking Changning, Putuo, Jing’an, Huangpu, Hongkou and Yangpu districts. The passage is still under construction.

The construction of Beihong Elevated Road is expected to relieve traffic pressure on nearby streets, such as Tianshan and Xianxia roads.

The south-to-east and east-to-north ramps of the elevated road have been open, and the new ramps set to open on Friday are the east-to-south and north-to-east ones.

The elevated road will link with Beidi Road Tunnel in the future.

The opening of the new roads is expected to better connect the venue of the second CIIE, the National Exhibition and Convention Center, with downtown Shanghai.