Monday, October 13, 2008

Jingshen Expressway

The Jingshen Expressway is an expressway in China which links Beijing to Shenyang. It is 658 km in length.

It leaves Beijing heading east and is numbered G025. The expressway crosses the jurisdictions of Beijing municipality, Hebei province, Tianjin municipality and Liaoning province.

The Jingshen Expressway gets its name by the combination of two one-character Chinese abbreviations of both Beijing and Shenyang .

Route


The Jingshen Expressway runs through the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well as the provinces of Hebei and Liaoning.

Basic Route: Beijing - Xianghe - Jixian County - Jinwei - Tangshan - Beidaihe - Qinhuangdao - Shanhaiguan - Jinzhou - Panjin - Anshan - Shenyang

Status: The entire expressway is complete.

Note: The expressway abruptly finishes in Beijing on the . From the looks of it, it may be possible that the expressway would be extended into the .

History


The Jingshen Expressway's predecessor was the short-lived Jingqin Expressway , which did not start from central Beijing at all.

The Jingshen Expressway was completed in time for the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The expressway opened to the general motoring public on September 15, 1999, after four years of work on different sections.

Further streamlining of the expressway came with the merger and removal of several toll stations in 2003.

By September 2004, uneven road surfaces in the Beijing section became a thing of the past.

Early on October 8, 2004, a horrendous series of car crashes occurred on the expressway heading for Beijing, near the interchange with the Jinji Expressway, in Tianjin municipality. 36 vehicles were involved, most being victims of a series of rear end collisions. Traffic was locked up for over one and a half hours starting from 8 AM.

Road conditions


Speed limit


120 km/h in Tianjin section; otherwise 110 km/h throughout.

Tolls


Tolls apply for the stretch beginning east of Bailu Toll Gate, east of the 5th Ring Road .

Lanes


6 lanes .

Surface conditions


Variable; generally good.

Traffic


Generally good.

Major exits


Shiyuan , Huoxian, Xianghe , Baodi , Jinwei, Yutian, Tangshan , Beidaihe, Shanhaiguan, Jinzhou , Panjin, Anshan, Shenyang

Service areas


Plenty in number.

Connections


Ring Roads of Beijing: Connects with the E. 4th Ring Road at Sifang Bridge, the E. 5th Ring Road at Wufang Bridge, and the E. 6th Ring Road at Shiyuan Bridge.

Jinji Expressway: Connects at Jinwei heading for either Jixian County or central Tianjin.

Tangshan City Ring Road: Becomes the northern stretch of the city ring road expressway, and connects at two points to central Tangshan.

Toll network



When the expressway opened in September 1999, people were complaining about one thing: namely, the ''sheer number'' of toll gates. In some cases, a toll booth appeared every ''15'' kilometres!

It so turned out that the Jingshen expressway was constructed by different organisations, and as a result, each set up their own toll gate. This seemed to be OK at the start, but made traffic awfully slow, as traffic piled up in front of toll gates.

The PRC's Ministry of Communications stepped in after four years and declared that, effective September 1, 2003, the Baodi toll gate in Tianjin and the Yutian toll gate in Hebei would be demolished, in order to create a networked toll system. Additionally, two expressway toll gates near Shanhaiguan would be merged as one.

Thus, for the section from Xianghe in western Hebei through to Shanhaiguan in eastern Hebei , this networked toll system applies -- one of the first of its kind. This does away with the previous system, where toll booths appeared every time the jurisdiction changed. For some odd reason, Beijing and Liaoning are still not part of the networked toll system.

China plans to expand the networked toll system nationwide, starting with the Jingshen expressway as some kind of testing ground. For now, the change is being accepted positively. Average speed on the expressway has gone up, and a May 2004 law on traffic in general raised maximum speed limits on expressways nationwide from 110 km/h to 120 km/h. This makes traffic jams on this expressway either rare, or a thing of the past.

List of exits


Symbols: ↗ = exit, ? = main interchange; → = only on way out of Beijing; ? = central toll gate; P = parking area; S = service area

Beijing section


Listed are exits heading east as of Beijing

? '''' Dongsihuan
Louzizhuang
Gaobeidian
'''' 5th Ring Road
Dougezhuang
? Bailu
↗ 1: Tongmalu
S Tianjiafu
? 2: '''' E. 6th Ring Road
↗ 3: Tianjin, Huoxian
↗ 4: Langfu, Zhanggezhuang
P Langfu
↗ 5: Xiji, Hehezhan

Hebei section


Listed are exits heading east as of Xiji/Xianghe boundary crossing

↗ Xianghe Xianghe, Dachang
S Xianghe
? Xianghe

Tianjin section


Listed are exits heading east as of provincial/municipal boundary crossing

,
S
,
? '''' Jinji Expressway
Xinzhong

Hebei section


Listed are exits heading east, gradually northeast, as of provincial/municipal boundary crossing

↗ 11; Yutian, Shijiuwo
S Yutian
↗ 12; Yaohongqiao
↗ 13; Tangshan North, Zunhua
↗ 14; Tangjin Expressway, Tianjin
Guye
S Guye
Qian'an
Lulong
S Lulong
Funing
Beidaihe
Qinhuangdao
? Toll Gate
↗ 22: Shanhaiguan

Liaoning section


Listed are exits heading northeast as of Shanhaiguan/Wanjia boundary crossing

S Wanjia
Wanjia
S Qianwei
Qianwei
S Suizhong
Suizhong
S Dongxinzhuang
Shahousuo
S Xingcheng
Xingcheng
Huludao
Huludao East
S Tashan
Gaoqiao
Jinzhou
S Jinzhou
Jinzhou East
Jinzhou North
Linghai
Guanghui
S Dongguo
Panyinghai
Panjin
Gaosheng
Taian
S Liaozhong
Liaozhong
Ciyutuo
Gaohua
Shenyang

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