Work has commenced on an 800-m (half-mile) temporary roadway from the entrance of the Second-Line Customs Port Expressway to 300 m (328 yd) east of the West Ring Tunnel near West Huandao Road in Hengqin New Area.

The detour will be ready for traffic by mid-May, allowing for construction of the Jinhai Avenue Bridge Hengqin Interchange. Designated JHTJ section of the Jinhai Avenue Bridge, the permanent roadway will connect the Hengqin Interchange to the Jingwan Bridge on southern Hengqin Island. Planned are two approach and two ramp bridges, which total 2,895 m (1.8 miles) in length.

By late next month, sections of West Huandao Road will be ready for pile foundation, pier, and bearing platform construction of the JHTJ section.

Construction site [Photo by Zeng Yao / Guanhai App]

Once the Hengqin Interchange handles traffic in October 2022, motorists will go from Hengqin to Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport via the Jinhai Avenue Bridge. No longer would they have to use the Zhuhai Bridge, according to Cui Tao of China Railway 6th Group. Forming part of Airport Urban Rail Transit Phase II, the bridge across the Modaomen Waterway will allow travel of 10-15 minutes between south Jinwan and Hengqin Island. Motorists from Gongbei will reach Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport in 25 minutes. The designated speed is 100 kmph (62 mph) for the dual six-lane highway and 160 kmph (99.5 mph) for the center double-track railway.

The Jinhai Avenue Bridge arch is the world's widest cable-stayed structure for combined highway-railway use. The entire project spans 11.2 km (7 miles) from the Jingwan Tunnel to the Sanzao Tunnel beneath East Airport Road (S727, Jinhai Avenue), just north of the Zhuhai College of Science & Technology campus in Jinwan District.