An expressway that links Chongming Island from east to west will be completed by the end of next year, officials of the Shanghai Road Administrative Office said yesterday.

Once finished, Chenhai Expressway will substantially improve transport on Chongming, the country's third largest island.

Long-term development plans call for the island to become an ecological tourist center.

"As a key part of the overall scheme for Chongming, the expressway will speed up economic development on the island," Dong Hui, a spokesperson for the road administrative office, told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

The entire road will run 67 kilometers with a designed vehicle speed of 100kms per hour.

The western and eastern sections of the road have already been built. Workers have started on the central part of the expressway.

Lu fei, deputy director of Chongming's urban planning bureau, said transport time will be reduced drastically.

"People will be able to travel across the island in about 40 minutes. It takes about two hours now," Lu said.

He also said the road will play a key role in developing the island into a tourism center with resorts and attractions by 2020.

Lu didn't release the financial details of the project.

Under a draft plan, Chongming will increase its forest coverage from 16 per cent to 55 percent by 2020 and evolve into an "eco-friendly island."

To meet the goal, the island will be divided into five areas.

The eastern part of the island will become a resting place for migratory birds. The central region will become the city's largest public recreational area.

In another massive transport infrastructure plan, Shanghai has opted to connect Chongming to downtown. The project includes a 9km tunnel connecting Pudong with Changxing Island and a 10km bridge linking Changxing and Chongming islands.

Source: Shanghai Daily news