Container truck traffic into YICT is about to get a lot easier, thanks to the upcoming completion of the Yanpai Highway Extension Project. The key stages of the road have already been completed, and the project will be officially opened for traffic before the end of 2007. This will allow container trucks to leave YICT via Yanpai Highway without mixing with through traffic.
The completed extension stretches 1.38 kilometres from south to north, connecting Second Jingang Road (which ends at the exit gatehouse of YICT) to Yanpai Highway. This new section will reduce the impact on port traffic during the construction of the Second Access Road to Yantian. It will also allow the area to support more traffic, thus providing strong support for future port development. Once the extension has been opened, container truck traffic flowing out of the port area will be able to use Jihe Highway and Nanpin Expressway via Yanpai Highway to reach the intercity road network.
Yanpai Highway Extension will officially be opened to traffic upon the completion of auxiliary infrastructure projects around the port, all of which are well underway according to the construction company. Other projects designed to reduce port traffic congestion even further are also under construction. The Second Access Road to Yantian will be completed by the end of 2007. And the Wutong Interchange and the widening of the Yangang section in Shenyan Road should be completed by the end of 2008.
In recent years, YICT has worked closely with government departments to improve traffic conditions around the port. In early 2002, Mingzhu Interchange, a joint investment project between YICT and its partner Yantian Port Group, was opened to keep container trucks separate from public transport. This was followed by the opening of Yanpai Highway in 2005. The highway – Shenzhen's first dedicated to port traffic – has vastly alleviated traffic in eastern Shenzhen.