New Hengqin tunnel will make Shizimen CBD whole

The north and south sections of Shizimen Central Business District will be connected by a tunnel under the Maliuzhou Waterway by June 2022. A preliminary survey and design have been completed and construction of the southern and northern links is to be mostly finished by December 2021.

The Shizimen Tunnel will alleviate traffic pressure on the Hengqin Bridge to the west and help to balance development between the north and south parts of the CBD. The project is considered essential to the integration of Hengqin, Hongwan, Zhuhai Free Trade Zone, Wanzai, and Shizimen as a new urban center and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Economic Zone.

In October 2018, the Hengqin Tunnel from N Ring Road (Huandao) to Nanwan avenues opened as the third paved connection to Hengqin Island. Shizimen Tunnel will be the fourth.

Shizimen Tunnel

Costing 2.85 billion yuan ($412 million), the tunnel is planned geographically between the Hengqin and Sai Van (Macao) bridges with the northern entrance near the Zhuhai International Convention & Exhibition Center. The opening of the 580-m (634-yd) two-directional southern link will be north of the Rongyue and Second Huitong intersection.

The tunnel will span 2.8 km (1.7 miles) from north to south.

The main line will be a dual four-lane structure with a designed speed of 40 kmph (25 mph). The 940-m (1028-yd) duplex cross-waterway section will have traffic lanes and sidewalks on each of the two levels.

Shizimen gateway with Macao at right, Shizimen and Hengqin islands below, and Zhuhai Free Trade Zone in Wanzai above.

Travelers can enter the 1,137-m (1243-yd) unidirectional northern link south of the intersection of Fourth Huizhan Road and Nanwan Avenue, and exit west of the Nanwan Avenue and First Huizhan Road intersection.

Multilayer design

One-way northern entrance

Two-way southern link [Photos courtesy Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee]