A BRIDGE spanning the Pearl River to connect Shenzhen and Zhongshan will be built to further the integration of Pearl River Delta cities, according to a government report at the annual session of the Guangdong provincial legislature.
According to the Guangdong Five-Year Program (2011-2015), the project, including a bridge and 50-kilometer expressway, would cost 30 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion).
It was not known when the project would start. Shenzhen Party chief Wang Rong was quoted by the Daily Sunshine on Monday as saying the project involved Shenzhen, Zhongshan and Guangzhou, and the location and the impact on navigation needed to be coordinated and approved by the provincial and Central governments.
Wang said the project was key infrastructure and the Shenzhong (Shenzhen-Zhongshan) Bridge would be a golden passage to promote economic exchange on both sides of the river.
The uncertainty of the start of the Shenzhong Bridge was partly because the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge had been given priority by the Central Government, said Li Miaojuan, director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission.
Deputies of the Guangdong Provincial People s Congress had in past years proposed building the Shenzhong Bridge because the Humen Bridge was overloaded and a bottleneck would form in the Delta city transport network if a new bridge was not built.
When the bridge is built, it would take only 30 minutes from Zhongshan to the Shenzhen airport and airports in Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Hong Kong could be reached within an hour. (Han Ximin)
