--A review of the progress Ningbo made in the last in the construction of a modern metropolitan city
When night is falling, the lighted Airport Road looks like a winding light belt or a flying dragon.
With the hard work of the constructors over the past three years, the 11-km Airport Road, the first fast road in the true sense of Ningbo, was completed and opened to traffic by the end of last month. It is a convenient fast road that runs north-southward in the middle-west suburbs of the city.
It is estimated that in December the 86-km ring expressway will have its eastern section completed and then the Ring Expressway will become a beautiful circle around the city.
In the city, the first phase of Line 1 of the rail rapid transit project has had the main structure of all the underground stations completed and all the 11 tunnels have been connected. The construction of the 14 underground stations of the first phase of Line 2 project is going on.
The continuous progress in the construction of the key projects is changing the look of this modern metropolis that is stepping toward its goal of a modern international port city.
To be a modern metropolis, Ningbo must overcome the problems of cities, especially the traffic problem.
In the construction of a modern metropolitan city, Ningbo is concentrating on the construction of infrastructural facilities, especially the roads. With the progress of the projects, a criss-cross fast road network is taking shape when the outer north fast road, the outer south fast road, and the fast road along the Shiji Avenue are connected. The network and the ring expressway, with two longitudinal and two latitudinal fast roads that connected with 11 extensions of the ring expressway, will be a backbone of the traffic network of the city.
In March 2011, In response to the demand of the people, Ningbo Municipal Party Committee and Ningbo Government decided to start the "no dead-end road project" and thus started a wave of actions to break through the dead-end roads. So far, of the 61 projects planned to complete in the next three years, 30 have started their construction. The 22 dead-end roads planned to open up this year have started their construction. And so far, 6 of them have finished and opened to traffic.
According to the "Guidelines of Accelerated Construction of a Metropolitan City of Ningbo (2011-2015)", Ningbo has started the 6 "promotion actions" including the central urban area promotion action, the north and south wing development action and the urban and rural integrated development action. The construction of the 43 functional blocks, 7 satellite towns and 100 key infrastructural facilities is accelerating. In the time to come, Ningbo will be more rational in urban layout, better urban functionality, more scientific in urban management, and better for the living conditions.
Progress has been made in the construction of Eastern New Town. So far, the investment into the construction of the new town has added up to 50 billion yuan and foreign capital introduced amounts to 4 billion US dollars. In 2012, all the projects in the area of 8.45 square kilometers will start.
The blueprint for the 7 satellite towns of Cicheng, Simen, Xidian, Shipu, Jishigang, Xikou and Guanhaiwei has been made. In 2011, the investment in the fixed assets shall reach 13 billion yuan, to turn the towns into cities.
The conceptual plan of the waterside recreational belt has been completed. According to the plan, Ningbo will build some walking areas along the rivers.
A new picture of Ningbo with distinctive features of rivers and seas will come true.
Source: Wang Lan, Lu Lei, Ningbo Daily, A1, November 13, 2011.