All eyes on Suzhou Creek with new bridge open
The Changping Road Bridge over the Suzhou Creek opened to the public on Sunday.
A new Suzhou Creek bridge opened to the public on Sunday morning.
It will relieve traffic congestion near the Shanghai Railway Station, and create a new riverside attraction.
The 60 meter Changping Road Bridge in Jing’an District, dubbed the “Eyes of Suzhou Creek,” connects Changping, Hengtong, Qufu and Tiantong roads.
The bridge and road project stretch for a total of 853 meters helped create a new west-east thoroughfare to largely relieve the congestion in the downtown region, the Shanghai Construction Group Shanghai Mechanized Construction Group Co said.
It marks a new milestone in the city government’s campaign to develop a continuous riverside public space along the creek by the end of 2020, along with greenery, public service facilities and cross-river bridges.
Many nearby residents came to witness the opening of the bridge at 10am on Sunday. Thanks to the new facility, drivers and pedestrians will no longer need to detour to the nearest Changshou or Hengfeng road bridges which are over 1.3 kilometers away from each other.
Retired teacher Gu Guoyong came to the bridge around 8am to experience the new cross-river connection near his birthplace.
Gu, 84, has been living on Changping Road along the creek since he was born. The local government demolished his old house in 1980 and built a modern neighborhood in which he now lives.
Gu Guoyong, 84, who was born in a nearby neighborhood, poses on the Changping Road Bridge.
‘Mother River’
“I’ve been witnessing the overwhelming changes on the creek, which is more like a ‘mother river’ to me than the Huangpu River,” Gu said.
He recalled the muddy riverside region and murky waterway where he learnt to ride a bicycle and swim. The great changes began around 1970s when the city government launched several rounds of clean-up campaigns for the creek.
His neighbor Zhao Xiaohua, 60, went to the construction site every day to check the schedule. He has made friends with many construction workers.
“We’ve been looking forward to the bridge since 1970s when the bridge was initially planned,” Zhao said. “It has reduced the walking distance to the Shanghai Railway Station from my home to five minutes from at least 20 minutes previously,” he said.
The self-employed entrepreneur jogs along the creek every morning. It takes him 45 minutes to reach the Waibaidu Bridge near the Bund through the continuous path along the creek, Zhao said.
The new bridge has six vehicle lanes as well as a pedestrian and cyclist lane on each side. The arched steel bridge features white ribbon-like decorations that resemble the shape of an eye. A well-designed lighting system illuminates the bridge at night.
The bridge is expected to better connect Jing’an with Putuo, Yangpu and Hongkou districts through Changping, Hengtong, Qufu, Tiantong, Changzhi and Changyang roads. Changping and Hengtong roads on both sides of the creek have been expanded and linked up with the bridge.
It is expected to help relieve the traffic flow of the still under-construction Beiheng Passage, a 19-kilometer road to link Changning, Putuo, Jing’an, Huangpu, Hongkou and Yangpu districts, by up to 20 percent.
Residents look forward to the official opening of the Changping Road Bridge on Sunday morning.
Additional bridges
Wang Yongjie, the project manager, said the riverside environment has been improved during the two-year construction on the bridge. The 32-year-old Shanghai native came to the site every day to supervise the construction process and schedule.
“Many old residential buildings were demolished and replaced by modern communities, while the waterfront has also become more beautiful,” Wang said.
The whole structure of the bridge deck was prefabricated and installed without any pier in the bridge to reduce the influence on the environment and waterway, Wang said.
It has become the 30th bridge crossing the 21-kilometer-long downtown Suzhou Creek.
Apart from the Changping Road Bridge, about 20 new bridges over the creek are on the city agenda, meaning the total number of bridges will reach 48, according to the city’s urban planning authority.
The average distance between bridges will be reduced to 300 meters along the downtown section of the creek, said Yang Guangqiang, an official with Shanghai Chengtou Highway Investment Group, the project's main builder.
The 42-kilometer Suzhou Creek riverside in six urban districts is set to be almost fully connected by the end of this year. Over 90 percent of the work had been completed in Huangpu, Hongkou, Jing’an, Putuo, Changning and Jiading districts.
Workers open the bridge to traffic on Sunday morning.
A night view of the bridge dubbed the "Eyes of Suzhou Creek."
