In an open letter to Shenzhen residents, three government
departments have apologized for failing to relieve traffic jams
which have plagued areas near the Meilin Checkpoint for years.
In the letter published in Chinese-language newspapers Thursday,
the planning, communication and traffic police bureaus took the
unusual step of saying sorry and listed measures to improve traffic
conditions in the area as well as asking the public for
suggestions.
Traffic congestion began to occur near the checkpoint in 2003,
and deteriorated last year. On "black Mondays" in early March last
year, tens of thousands of residents were stranded north of the
checkpoint for hours because of a traffic standstill, leading to a
public uproar.
In the open letter, the bureaus blamed poor planning and
infrastructure, slow construction of new facilities and a lack of
coordination between government departments.
The poorly designed Minle Flyover north of the checkpoint was
blamed for many of the jams as motorists both leaving and heading
for the special economic zone have to make a U-turn at the flyover,
taking cars up to 25 minutes to pass the flyover.
The government planned to rebuild the flyover but the proposal
met with strong opposition from residents of the Yingshui Villas
housing estate, who feared the new flyover would cause more noise
and air pollution.
In the letter, the bureaus said they would improve the design of
the new flyover and add new facilities for pedestrians, in a bid to
win residents' support.
The increase in new cars has also contributed to the chronic
traffic jams in the area. According to official figures, about
80,000 vehicles passed the checkpoint each day in 2003. The number
surged to 260,000 in November last year.
The government said it will build new highways, including Fulong
Road, Xinqu Thoroughfare, Jinlong Road, and extensions to
Banxuegang Thoroughfare and Yulong Road, to provide new links
between Longhua and the special economic zone. New roads are
expected to divert traffic from the checkpoint.
(Shenzhen Daily January 12, 2007)
