The Meihua-Zaobei interchanges section in Qianshan shared by the Xianghai Bridge feeder and Jinqin Express Road will open this month after acoustic panels are fully installed.

The 4-km (2-mile) segment will take less than five minutes to travel at 60 kmph (27 mph), and only three minutes at 80 kmph (50 mph). Motorists can reach the Hengqin Bridge in 13 minutes from the Zaobei Interchange via Jinqin Express Road at the slower speed as there are no traffic lights en route.

Jinqin Express Road in its entirety will be ready for traffic upon the opening of the section and the Xianghai Bridge. The north-south expressway runs 13.6 km (8 miles) from the Gangwan Avenue-Jinfeng Road intersection in Tangjiawan to Changsheng Interchange in Nanping, traversing Zhuhai's downtown area.

Meihua Interchange of Xianghai Bridge feeder [Photo by Ye Qiuming / WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]

The 30-km (19-mile) dual six-lane Xianghai Bridge starts from the Guangdong Western Coastal Expressway's Tanzhou Interchange and continues southward on an overpass of the National Expressway G105 (Gudu Avenue) to Meihua Road in Shangchong. It then goes westward along the border to Zhongshan's Tanzhou Town and Zhuhai's Jinwan and Doumen districts.

Its 9.8-km (6-mile) feeder from Tanzhou to Zaobei interchanges has a speed limit of 80 kmph, while the 20-km (12-mile) main line is designed for 100 kmph (62 mph), according to Yu Dengrong, general manager of Xianghai Bridge Co.

The bridge, which has 10 interchanges, crosses the Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Line, Zhongshan West Outer Ring, and Jiangmen-Zhuhai expressways before terminating at Huxin Road in Doumen.

A key east-west passage paralleling Zhuhai Avenue to the north, the entire bridge is also to be operational by 2021. Motorists will be able to reach downtown areas from Doumen District in fewer than 30 minutes.