On April 12, 2023, the Second Quarter Hubei Transportation Investment Scheduling Conference was held in Xiangyang. The meeting revealed that from 2023 to 2025, Hubei plans to build 24 expressway projects and strive to start construction of 39 expressway projects.

In the first quarter of 2023, Hubei Province’s transportation investment growth momentum was strong. In the first quarter, the investment in expressways, ordinary roads, port and shipping construction, and station construction was 17.61 billion yuan, 16.26 billion yuan, 2.15 billion yuan, and 2.79 billion yuan in investment, respectively, a year-on-year increase 89.2%, 13.1%, 9.9%, 0.4%. As of the end of March, Hubei Province had completed 38.81 billion yuan in fixed asset investment in highway and waterway transportation, accounting for 25.9% of the annual target of 150 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 36.5%, a record high, ranking second in central China and seventh in China.

At the meeting, the Hubei Provincial Department of Transportation issued the "Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Three-Year Action Plan for the High-quality Development of Expressways in the Province (2023-2025)", striving to complete the investment of 300 billion yuan in the construction of expressways in the province; to ensure that by 2025 The mileage of highways in the province has reached 8,000 kilometers, and strive to break through 8,400 kilometers (excluding the mileage of reconstruction and expansion); strive to complete 998 kilometers of highway projects (including 188 kilometers of reconstruction and expansion); strive to start construction of 2,149 kilometers of highway projects (including 723 kilometers of reconstruction and expansion) ).

In 2023, Hubei Province will complete five expressway projects of 186 kilometers including the Hekou-Hubei-Henan boundary section of the Wuhan-Dawu Expressway, and strive to start construction of 24 projects of 1,372 kilometers (including two reconstruction and expansion projects of 227 kilometers); in 2024, Xiangyang will be completed. The extension line of the southeast section of the expressway (Xiangyang to Nanzhang) and other 7 projects of 205 kilometers, and strive to start 6 projects of 532 kilometers (including 2 reconstruction and expansion projects of 321 kilometers); the Yichang section of Yidu-Laifeng Expressway will be completed in 2025 Wait for 12 projects of 607 kilometers, and strive to start 9 projects of 246 kilometers (including 6 reconstruction and expansion projects of 175 kilometers).

The Wu-E-Huang-Huang Expressway project started in time and became a highlight of transportation investment in the first quarter. The Department of Transportation of Hubei Province has compiled the "Guidelines for the Construction of Wuhan New City and E-Huang-Huang Expressway System Engineering" and the work promotion plan. Currently, 8 projects have been started, with an investment of 3.98 billion yuan. Simultaneously promote hard connectivity projects in urban circles, a total of 31 have been completed, 93 are under construction, and an investment of 57 billion yuan has been completed.

In addition, expressway investment has accelerated significantly, accounting for more than 45% of transportation investment in Hubei Province, giving full play to the leading role of major project investment. In the construction of rural roads, we will focus on the construction of dual lanes in townships, double lanes in administrative villages, and widening and reconstruction of low-standard road sections. 3,050 kilometers of rural roads have been newly rebuilt, accounting for 30.5% of the annual target.

The main person in charge of the Hubei Provincial Department of Transportation said that this year will continue to anchor investment goals, focus on promoting 53 expressway projects, and ensure that five projects including the Wuhan section of Wuyang Expressway will be completed on schedule with a length of 186 kilometers. At the same time, explore the advantages and grasp the construction of water transportation, focusing on promoting the construction of a high-level waterway network with the Yangtze River and Han River as the core, Tangbai River, Jianghan Canal, and Songxi River as the focus, and major tributaries as supplements.Editor/Ma Xue