"Blast countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." At around 10 a.m. on the 11th, at the south portal of the Tianmashan Tunnel reconstruction and expansion project on the G319 line in Liuyang, the tunnel officially broke through amid a deafening round of blasts, with trial operation expected on July 1. By then, congestion on the route from Liuyang's urban area toward Dayao and Jiangxi will be significantly eased.

As a key section of the Liuyang stretch of National Highway 319, the Tianmashan Tunnel, completed in the late 1990s, was designed for traffic volumes far below current levels. Because the number of lanes inside and outside the tunnel does not match, traffic converges at both ends of the portal, making congestion very likely and increasingly posing safety hazards.

With approval from the Hunan Provincial People's Government, the G319 Tianmashan Tunnel reconstruction and expansion project was included in the Mid-Term Evaluation and Adjustment Plan of Hunan Province's 13th Five-Year Transport Development Plan. The tunnel upgrade plan is as follows: a new half-width tunnel will be built on a separated roadbed to the west of the existing Tianmashan Tunnel; once completed, it will run parallel to the old tunnel to form a twin-tube one-way system. The reconstruction and expansion project has a total route length of 2,477 meters, including 1,075 meters of tunnel, and adopts Class I highway technical standards with a design speed of 60 km/h and a newly added realigned roadbed width of 9.75 meters.

A relevant official said that while resolving congestion at the tunnel, the project will also improve transport conditions in southern Liuyang and even open up a clearer connection with the Hunan-Jiangxi border area.