100 renovated roads for residents to enjoy
Shanghai residents now have a greater choice of places to enjoy a walk, with 100 streets recently chosen as demonstration roads.
Renovations by the Road Transport Administrative Bureau have focused on comprehensive upgrading, standardized maintenance and intelligent management to ensure a safe and comfortable experience for road users.
”We are now shifting our focus from roads to people’s experience. We want to create a comfortable environment including the surrounding greenery and buildings,” said Leng Jie, who is in charge of facilities maintenance supervision at the bureau.
Leng said the judging criteria include the evenness of pavements and driveways, sanitation standards, ample equipment such as guidance for the blind, overall surroundings and the safety of bridges.
Efforts have been made to set up demonstration roads in both urban and rural areas since 2019 including Yan'an Elevated Road, Lujiazui Ring Road and Sinan Road.
According to the bureau, a total of 391 renovation projects were carried out last year, with 13,000 manhole covers replaced. Another 100 roads will be revamped by the end of the year.
“The management and upgrading of manholes is challenging. We’ve now set up a cooperative system with respective departments if a broken manhole is reported. It should be isolated immediately and repaired within an hour to ensure safety,” Leng said.
Leng also said a new type of manhole is being introduced which can minimize bumps when a vehicle passes.
Some roads are also equipped with smart manholes, which can send a report if someone tries to steal them.
The upgraded roads include those in the Pudong New Area with special themes such as finance, technology and childhood. Lingnan Road in Jing’an District has set up jogging lanes and benches.
Tongpu Road in Putuo District
Tongpu Road, a main trunk lane in the Changfeng Ecological Business Area in Putuo District, was worn out in recent years because of heavy traffic.
To ensure safety and improve the experience for passers-by, pavements have been upgraded from bricks to marble materials equipped with invisible manhole covers.
The project also focused on the renovation of colored asphalt to distinguish vehicle lanes from bicycle lanes.
The guardrails of Henggang Creek Bridge near Tongpu Road have also been replaced to serve both safety and aesthetic functions.
A resident surnamed Liu, who has lived in the area for more than five years, said: “Back then, the overall environment was very dilapidated and full of battered warehouses along the road.
“Now it’s more neat and open, and the neighbourhood and facilities nearby make you feel refreshed. The pavements are more suitable for a walk and more flood-proof as well.”
Danba Road in Putuo District
Danba Road in Putuo District is surrounded by schools, large neighborhoods and shopping malls. It is a key junction connecting Wuning Road and Jinshajiang Road, which was renovated last year.
“We’ve worked with the greenery bureau and water bureau to create an eco-friendly and ambient environment around Danba Road," said Chen Zhenliang, chief of facilities management at the Putuo Management Center.
"Zhaoyang Creek is one of the best-maintained rivers in the central areas. We also upgraded the pavements with water-permeable material to prevent water clogging during flood season.”
A smart report system has been introduced, allowing patrol teams to record overall road information daily in terms of maintenance information and emergencies.
Zhaojiabang Road in Xuhui District
In 2018, Zhaojiabang Road, one of the trunk roads in Xuhui District, was among the first batch of roads to be renovated, including burying overhead cables.
Traditional construction methods such as large-scale road blocking, digging and relocation of greenery would greatly affect normal traffic and nearby residents.
Instead of doing so, the local government turned a desolate underground civil air defense base into a modern pipe gallery to minimize disturbance.
The 2,568-square-meter underground space, discovered by a greening relocation team, was an abandoned air defense project from the 1980s, which remained hidden for a long time because of the greenery at the entrance.
After fixing the drainage problem, some 13 kilometers of electric wires and 30 kilometers of communication cables were constructed inside the pipe gallery, as well as a smart monitoring system to prevent accidents.
Combined with ground projects including landscape design, Zhaojiabang Road now has public spaces for exercise and leisure.
Some of the other demonstration roads