“In the future, this expressway will pass through many scenic areas in Xinyang City, including Tianmu Mountain, Chushandian Reservoir, Nanwan Lake Reservoir, Siwang Mountain, Jigong Mountain, and Lingshan, connecting Xinyang's scattered tourism resources into a closed-loop overall tourism route, building a core expressway for Xinyang tourism, promoting the overall development and coordinated construction of the city's tourism resources, and creating a new landscape of Dabie Mountain area with the tourism poverty alleviation expressway as the main axis.” said Lu Dengqun, Chief of the Planning Section of the Municipal Transport Bureau, in an interview with reporters on January 30.

It is reported that the Minggang-Jigongshan Section of the Dabie Mountain Expressway is a planned expressway in the “Henan Province Expressway Network Planning Adjustment Scheme” (2016-2030). The project starts in the southeast of Wanggang Township, Pingqiao District, connects north to the Huaibin-Xinyang Expressway Xixian-Xingji Section and intersects with the Shanghai-Shaanxi Expressway. The route goes south through Wanggang Township, Pingchangguang Town, and Gaoliangdian Township in Pingqiao District, then through Wujiadian Town, Dongjiahe Town, Shihegang Town, and Tanjiahe Township in Shihe District, before turning east through Liulin Township and Lijiazhai Town, intersecting with the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway west of Tiepu Township in Luoshan County, and reaching the project endpoint. The project is about 95.8 kilometers long, with an estimated investment of 13.5 billion yuan, and is planned to be advanced under the PPP model.

At present, the feasibility study report for the Minggang-Jigongshan Section of the Dabie Mountain Expressway has been completed. Pre-construction procedures including soil and water conservation, cultural relics impact, earthquake impact, and energy conservation evaluation have been approved; the mineral resources report has been reviewed, the special impact report on Dongzhai National Nature Reserve has been submitted for review, and the planning site selection and environmental impact assessment reports have been compiled. Other related approval work for the project is being carried out in an orderly manner according to work nodes, and construction is expected to start by the end of 2019.

As Xinyang City vigorously promotes the all-for-one tourism development strategy, the Minggang-Jigongshan Section of the Dabie Mountain Expressway plays an important role in improving Xinyang's transportation infrastructure and creating a new tourism card for Xinyang. It is a practical need to promote regional economic development in the old revolutionary base area of Dabie Mountain and help poverty alleviation. “In addition, the project also connects internally and externally with Xinyang's road network, which will build the basic framework for developing all-for-one tourism, and will certainly play a strong supporting role in enhancing the effective supply of tourism transportation, improving the quality of tourism transportation services, and driving the development of related industries,” Lu Dengqun told reporters.