CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Phase III of Sichuan-Chongqing North-south Avenue, another major traffic artery in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, was open to traffic on April 8. Starting in Cizhu Town, Yubei District, Chongqing Municipality, and ending in Gaotan Town, Linshui County, Guang'an City, Sichuan Province, it is Chongqing’s first urban expressway that extends from downtown Chongqing to the outside of the city. It is of great significance to the accelerated integrated development of Guang’an and downtown Chongqing and the construction of the northern sub-center of the Chongqing metropolitan area.

Guang'an, the nearest prefecture-level city in Sichuan from the downtown area of Chongqing, takes the accelerated integrated development of Guang’an and downtown Chongqing as its primary strategy. On December 29, 2020, upon approval by the people's governments of Sichuan and Chongqing, Guang'an City of Sichuan and Yubei District of Chongqing jointly built the first cross-provincial new area at a provincial level in China – Gaozhu New Area in Sichuan and Chongqing. Afterwards, Guang’an and Chongqing cooperated with each other to start up the North-south Avenue Phase III Project in the Sichuan-Chongqing region which plans to extend the North-south Avenue in Cizhu Town of Yubei District to Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area.

Phase III of Sichuan-Chongqing North-South Avenue, connecting Phase I and Phase II, is constructed following the standards of Class I highways, with a total length of 9.97 km and six lanes in two directions. The North-South Avenue will allow passengers to quickly and directly get to Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Chongqingbei Station from Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area in as little as 30 minutes and become a major economic and logistics corridor in eastern Sichuan and northern Chongqing.

The North-South Avenue will shorten the travel distance between Linshui (especially Gaozhu New Area) and downtown Chongqing, according to Chongqing Municipal Transportation Committee and Chongqing Municipal Highway Affairs Center. The travel distance between Gaozhu New Area and Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport will be 38 km, and that between Gaozhu New Area and Guoyuan Port, the largest comprehensive inland transport hub in China, will be 50 km. The opening of the North-South Avenue will be conducive to the smooth rail-and-water coordinated transport of products in Gaozhu New Area: after products arrive in Chongqing, they can be shipped to the rest of the world through international logistics corridors such as China-Europe Railway Express (Yuxinou), the New Western Land-sea Corridor, and the Yangtze River Golden Waterway.

Additionally, the north-south expressway will connect the modern urban agriculture in Muer Town in Yubei District, the national agricultural high-tech industrial demonstration zone in Xinglong Town, and the health and wellness tourism industry in Huaying Mountain in the Cizhu-Gaotan region to provide basic support for the development of rural characteristic industries in Sichuan and Chongqing. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)