Not long ago, at the opening and completion ceremony of the key road bridge in Wuxi, the news of the construction of the "Rapid Central Ring" was settled, and the construction of the "Central Ring" Expressway was fully launched this year, and it is expected to be completed and put into operation during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. As soon as the news came out, it immediately aroused the attention of the public.
As a heavy "gift package" for urban transportation infrastructure construction, after the completion of the "Central" Express With a total mileage of 52.5 kilometers and an enclosing area of 186 square kilometers, how will it divert multiple "throat mouth" blockages on the current rapid inner ring? What new momentum will be injected into the overall layout of the southwest line tunnel and the northeast line "elevated + surface road" for the construction and development of major functional areas in many cities such as the Taihu Bay Science and Technology Innovation Belt? How will the 13-kilometer "super-long" continuous tunnel have both traffic and ecological functions? The reporter interviewed the relevant departments in this regard.
"Two ring linkage" smooth expressway blockage point
The early completion of the "Rapid Central Ring" has always been expected by the public, the reason is that many citizens have the same feeling, the current Inner Ring Expressway has a number of "throat mouth" blockages, the expressway is not fast at peak, the traffic is blocked, especially in Lihu Bridge, Huishan Tunnel, Jincheng Road Elevated and Jingdu Interchange and other places on the inner ring, the traffic jam is more serious.
"Diverting the blockage point of the Inner Ring Expressway is one of the original intentions of building the 'Central' Expressway, so that the urban expressway can be really fastened, and this purpose can be seen on the Central selection line." Wuxi Municipal Construction Management Center Chief Division Office said that according to the new round of expressway network planning, the Central Expressway Gaolang Road - Qianrong Road - 312 National Highway composition, it is obvious that these three roads correspond to the inner ring on the south, west and east of the three sections, through the appropriate ray channel to divert the inner ring traffic flow to the central ring, you can open the inner ring blockage.
Taking the Lihu Bridge blockage point as an example, after the Suxi Changnan Expressway Taihu Lake Tunnel was completed and opened to traffic at the end of last year, the northern extension of Fengxiang Road was announced at the beginning of this month, and then to the north, the first phase of the rapid transformation of the old Xicheng Road will also start this year, with the implementation of these projects, from Taihu Lake to the Yangtze River, followed by a large wave of transit "traffic" pouring into the West Inner Ring Expressway with Lihu Avenue - Fengxiang Road as the main axis, which will undoubtedly bring a new wave of congestion "impact" to the blockage points such as the Lihu Bridge and the Huishan Tunnel.
At the same time, at present, the only passage across Lihu Lake is the Lihu Bridge and the Lihu Tunnel, that is, a fast road and an urban trunk road, which is obviously not enough for the rapid development of urban "dual-core" traffic.
Planners pointed out that with the construction of the "Rapid Central Ring", the qianrong Road will be added to the west side of the Lihu Bridge and extended south to Gaolang Road, the western line of the Central Ring road will be constructed, and another lane through Lihu Lake will be added, and the inner ring traffic will be introduced into the central ring through the new gonghu avenue - Huaqing Avenue and other southern rapid rays, which will directly divert the inner ring, and at the same time bring the traffic flow of Taihu New Town, Heli Area and Lixi Area into the Central Ring.
The "two-ring linkage" will truly release the kinetic energy of the urban expressway. Industry experts said that the northeast line of the central ring is a nearly 22-kilometer expressway of the 312 national highway from Gaolang Road to Huicheng Avenue, which will effectively divert the congestion of the East Inner Ring Expressway after completion, while after the completion of the rapid transformation of Gaolang Road on the central ring south line, a new urban expressway will be added in the southern area to avoid a large amount of east-west traffic pouring into the Jincheng Expressway.
Serve the transportation needs of major functional areas of the city
Opening the "Rapid Central Ring" planning map, it is not difficult to see that the entire southern line of the central ring runs through the core area of Taihu New Town, and connects to the northeast of Taihu Bay Science and Technology Innovation City in Xinwu District, the southwest half is just inside the "number one project" Taihu Bay Science and Technology Innovation Belt, the western line runs through Lihu Future City in depth, and the northern line embraces Liangxi Science and Technology City.
In the major functional areas of the service city, the "Fast Central" that has just been planned is laying out a big chess game.
For Lihu Future City, the Western Central Ring Road runs through Huanhu Road and passes down Lihu Lake and Changguang Creek, which will bring a wave of traffic benefits to the planned Lihu Future City. According to the relevant person of Wuxi Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, according to the current plan, Lihu Future City already has lines such as the Central Expressway, Metro Line 5, Line 7 and Suxi Changdu Express, which have opened up multiple external connectivity routes, in addition, through the above-ground and underground composite design, more intelligent transportation scenarios will be unlocked, highlighting the advanced traffic advantages of major functional areas.
If Lihu Future City occupies multiple traffic advantages, Liangxi Science and Technology City "aims" at the "C" position of fast central.
According to the plan, the northern periphery of Liangxi Science and Technology City is tangent to the north line of the Central Ring Road, and the convenient traffic into the rapid ring line is opened through the ramp, and at the same time, the West Inner Ring Expressway passes through the "city" and paves a "golden" passage that "leads to the river and the lake". With the implementation of the northern extension of Fengxiang Expressway, the external transportation connection of Liangxi Science and Technology City is no longer "alone", and in the future, major functional areas such as Xiakewan Science City and Huishan New Town will compete with Liangxi Science and Technology City to activate the superimposed kinetic energy.
It is worth mentioning that for the "number one project" Taihu Bay Science and Technology Innovation Belt, the rapid central ring uses the entire southwest half of the corner to open the external passage of the science and technology innovation belt, so that the urban innovation space system of the "One Belt and Five Points" is deeply intertwined with the central ring at the traffic level. According to planners, for example, Gaolang Road on the south line of the Central Ring Road is the northern periphery of the Taihu Bay Science and Technology Innovation Belt in the Economic Development Zone and Xinwu District, and the West Central Line intersects vertically with qianhu Road, the boundary of the science and technology innovation belt, relying on the completed Gaolang Expressway and Qianrong Expressway, the traffic flow on the southern science and technology innovation belt can quickly enter the eastern area and the northern area of the city.
In addition, industry insiders said that the "rapid central ring" a total of 186 square kilometers of enclosed area, the central urban area "surrounded" it, through the "two rings and multiple shots" expressway, will effectively promote the linkage development of the central urban area and various plates.
The outline of the "multi-ring, multi-shooting" urban road network is gradually clear
Among the composition of the "Rapid Central Ring" route announced this time, the most surprising thing is the West Central Line: the 8.9-kilometer Qianrong Expressway starts from the 312 National Highway in the north, passes through Sheng'an West Road, Qianhu Road, Qianrong Road and Dachi Road, and connects to the Meiyuan Interchange in the south, builds a two-way six-lane elevated highway, and then continues south, along Huanhu Road, through Jianshe Road, Taihu West Avenue, through Lake Expansion Road, through Lihu Lake in the form of a tunnel near Lihu Xishizhuang, and "holding hands" with the Gaolang West Road Tunnel of the Central South Line near Yuanxi Road.
The direction of this line has aroused heated discussion among people from all walks of life who are concerned about urban construction.
The total length of the southern extension tunnel of Qianrong Expressway is about 7 kilometers, and the whole line will be connected to the 6-kilometer tunnel of Gaolang Road after crossing Lihu Lake and Changguangxi in the form of a tunnel, and the entire tunnel section will be near Jingyi Road of Taihu West Avenue on the West Central Line to Ruijing Road in the Economic Development District, with a total mileage of about 13 kilometers, which can be called a super long tunnel in the urban expressway. After the completion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the city's "Rapid Central Ring" will present the overall layout of the southwest line tunnel and the northeast line elevated road.
Why build such a long tunnel in the city loop? Wuxi Construction Management Center planners said the original commission, the construction of the central ring west line, must open the Qianrong Road elevated road and Gaolang West Road, is bound to have "intersection" with the excellent natural scenery of Lihu Lake, and The area around Dongli Lake and Changguang Creek as scenic spots, is a national ecological red line and ecological space control area, comprehensive consideration of many constraints, and finally the tunnel through Lihu Lake becomes the best solution.
It is not difficult to see from the planning map that the southwest line of the Central Ring Road is "close" to the Huanhu Road and is deeply intertwined with the East Lihu Lake. Some citizens and netizens are worried that the construction of the expressway will affect the surrounding natural scenery, such as the landscape along the lake around the lake road and the livable environment along the Shanshui East Road. In this regard, planners said that the detailed planning plan along the Lihu Lake area of the rapid central ring will also be implemented simultaneously in conjunction with the lihu future city plan, but the overall plan will strengthen the protection of natural scenery of the landscape and minimize the environmental impact on the surrounding residential areas.
As the construction of the "Rapid Central" gradually changes from a blueprint to a beautiful reality, the outline of the urban expressway network is becoming clearer. According to planners, according to the overall urban planning layout, in the next step, the "rapid inner ring" will continue to "expand the ring", create a "central ring +", implement rapid transformation of the northern area of Zhonghui Avenue, and connect with the northern extension of Xinxi Road and Gaolang Expressway in the eastern area to form a large middle ring. In the long run, a ring road will also be built on the city boundary, and the transit freight function on the central ring road will be gradually stripped to the ring road.
To build a network of expressways that are compatible with urban development and urban energy levels, planners have set their sights on the next 10 years. Industry experts said that adhering to the concept of moderately advanced planning, the pace of construction of the expressway network in Wuxi has accelerated, and the "multi-ring and multi-shooting" urban expressway can be expected in the future.