Shanghai government plans an additional six tunnels and bridges across the Huangpu River within the Outer Ring Road by the end of 2020. Their construction will bring the number to 16, roughly one every 2 kilometers.

Including the three tunnels currently under construction, the plan has selected locations for six other links, Qian Shaohua, the Shanghai Urban Planning & Design Research Institute's director of road and transport planning department, said yesterday.

The planned connections will be built between:

Changjiang Road in Puxi to the planned Jianghai Road in Pudong.

Jungong Road in Puxi to Jinqiao Road in Pudong.

Xinjian Road in Puxi to Pudong Road S.

Renmin Road in Puxi and Dongchang Road in Pudong.

Shilong Road in Puxi and Yaohua Road in Pudong.

Shangzhong Road in Puxi and the planned Huaxia Road in Pudong.

"The majority of these connections will be tunnels, as suggested by experts," Qian said.

"A bridge may look great but it takes up more land and leads to the reloca-tion of more families," Qian said. "As a traffic means, a bridge is less efficient than a tunnel."

Shanghai on both banks of the river is currently linked by four bridges and three tunnels, excluding the Bund sightseeing tunnel.

Of the three tunnels now under construction, Qian said the Dalian Road Tunnel, which is set to open to traffic by the month's end, is of great economic significance as the tunnel will help trans-port people in and out of Pudong's Lujiazui area, the city's major financial zone.

Under construction since May 2001, the tunnel, which has a total investment of 1.66 billion yuan (about US$200 million), will eventually connect Dalian Road in Puxi to Dongfang Road in Pudong.

The other two tunnels now under construction are the Xiangyin Road Tunnel connecting Xiangyin Road in Puxi with the planned Wuzhou Avenue in Pudong; and the Fuxing Road E. Tunnel between Fuxing Road E. in Puxi and Zhangyang Road in Pudong.

(Shanghai Daily September 20, 2003)