Anhui section of Huangshan-Qiandaohu Expressway opens

An aerial view of the Shendu Service Area, a key feature of the Huangshan-Qiandaohu Expressway. [Photo/WeChat ID: huangshanribao]

The Anhui section of the Huangshan-Qiandaohu Expressway opens today, marking the completion of an expressway that joins Huangshan Mountain in Anhui province with Qiandao Lake in East China's Zhejiang province – both among the country's most popular tourist attractions.

The Wuyang Toll Station in Shexian county, Anhui, is a key feature of the Huangshan-Qiandaohu Expressway. [Photo/WeChat ID: huangshanribao]

The trip from Huangshan Mountain to Qiandao Lake has been shortened to one and a half hours from three hours previously.

This is expected to play an important role in accelerating the integrated development of transportation and tourism in the International Cultural Tourism Demonstration Zone of Southern Anhui – as well as the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.

The whole project has adopted the four-lane high-speed configuration, with a design speed of 80 km/h, a single kilometer cost of 187 million yuan ($26.81 million) and a bridge-tunnel ratio of 82.5 percent.

It has a total length of 25.54 kilometers, a roadbed width of 25.5 meters – as well as three interchanges, one service area, two ramp toll stations, 13 tunnels, one special bridge and 14 large bridges.

The Huangshan-Qiandaohu Expressway is widely seen as being an important part of the national expressway G4012 Liyang-Ningde Expressway, which is an important traffic channel through four provinces in East China: Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian.