Main Roads for Motor Vehicles Only
12/12/2003 15:17
In order to ease the traffic problem, beginning next year, bikes,
electric vehicles and mopeds will be banned from three sections of the city’s
downtown main road network, and by the end of 2005, the ban will cover all the
city’s main roads.
The three sections are from Zhaojiabang Road to Xujiahui
Road (Wanping Road to Zhizaoju Road section), from Zhongshan Road S1 to South
Suzhou Road and Anshun Road to Nonglin Road.
According to the local
white-paper on urban transportation, by 2005, the main roads in the downtown
center will be for motor-vehicles only; local secondary roads will be extended;
total length of artery roads in the center of town will be increased from 690
kilometers to 719 kilometers; the current bicycle lanes will be used to widen
the existing roadway.
The project will be completed in three stages. In the
first stage, to be completed by the end of this year, the above named roads will
be for motor vehicles only; next year, in the second stage, 35.9 kilometers of
reconstruction work will be completed and in the third stage in 2005, 21.2
kilometers of reconstruction work will be finished.
At the end of October,
there were 1.7 million motor vehicles and 9.2 bikes, electric vehicles and
mopeds in Shanghai. In addition another 100,000 vehicles from outside the city
also use the roads.
Changing the bicycle lanes into motor vehicle lanes will
relieve local traffic pressure, according to the local transportation
department.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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