Expressway brings opportunities to Guizhou

A bird's-eye view of the Liupanshui-Weining Expressway in Guizhou province. [Photo/VCG]

The expressway connecting Liupanshui and Weining in Southwest China's Guizhou province opened to traffic on Jan 3. It connects Guizhou with the Beibu Gulf and the Pearl River Delta region.

The expressway is the Ministry of Transport's only self-managed transportation pilot project in West China and the longest of its kind in the country.

The Liupanshui-Weining Expressway is a key section of the Duyun-Shangri-la Expressway and will give the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Asia's largest satellite launch base, direct access to the sea.

The expressway connects the Liupanshui Expressway in Liupanshui city with the Duyun-Shangri-la Expressway in Weining county. The total length of the expressway is 190.11 kilometers and it includes four large bridges (5,248 meters) and five long tunnels (19,878 m).

Able to support speeds of up to 80 km per hour, the four-lane expressway will shorten the travel time between Liupanshui and Weining to one hour, while the travel time between Liupanshui and Zhaotong, Yunnan province, will be shortened from over five hours to just two hours.

The Liupanshui-Weining Expressway will link Guizhou with Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangxi, forming an intercity expressway network and playing a significant role in the development of resources along the route and helping bring prosperity to underdeveloped areas.