Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link sees traffic surge past 2 million vehicles

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link has seen a massive surge in traffic, carrying over 2 million vehicles since it was put into operation on June 30, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation said on Saturday.

A total of 1.85 million passenger cars used the new infrastructure in south China's Guangdong Province, with trucks at 150,200, the department added.

Spanning 24 kilometers, the link handles an impressive daily average of over 100,000 vehicles, with 305,000 vehicles crossing it in the first 72 hours after its official opening.

The link marks one of the most difficult cross-sea cluster projects with 10 world records. It starts at the Shenzhen airport interchange and connects with Ma'anshan Island in Zhongshan across the Pearl River, cutting the Shenzhen-Zhongshan travel time from two hours to approximately 30 minutes.

It is a key component of the national expressway network G2518, located approximately 30 kilometers south of the Humen Bridge and 31 kilometers north of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

The link, along with other existing structures, has formed a network of cross-sea and cross-river passages in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), boosting connectivity of the city cluster, said Deng Xiaohua, head of the Guangdong Provincial Communications Group.

"The link has already accounted for about 25 percent of the daily traffic passing through the Pearl River, which promotes market integration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA," said Lin Feiming, head of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation.

The GBA, encompassing Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong, boasts a combined population of over 80 million. It achieved a total economic output of over 14 trillion yuan (around $1.96 trillion) in 2023.