On the morning of September 24, as a landmark project of Zhenjiang's transportation modernization during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the expressway upgrade project of the Nanjing-Zhenjiang section of National Highway 312 officially began construction, marking the start of a new era of direct main-city connectivity between Nanjing and Zhenjiang. Ma Minglong, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, attended the groundbreaking ceremony and announced the start of construction. Xu Shuhai, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, and Xing Zhengjun, Vice Mayor of Nanjing, delivered speeches.

In his speech, Xu Shuhai first expressed, on behalf of the Zhenjiang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, gratitude to all guests and people from all sectors of society who have long cared about and supported Zhenjiang's development, and extended greetings to the builders fighting on the front line of the project. He pointed out that the Nanjing-Zhenjiang section of National Highway 312 is an important corridor connecting Nanjing and Zhenjiang's main urban areas and an important support for implementing Zhenjiang's development layout of "one body, two wings, three belts, and multiple zones." The expressway upgrade is of great and far-reaching significance for Zhenjiang to deeply integrate into the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the construction of the Nanjing metropolitan area, and it carries the high expectations of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government: the expressway on the Nanjing-Zhenjiang section of National Highway 312 should become a major corridor promoting regional integrated development; after completion, the drive from Xianlin in Nanjing to Zhenjiang's urban area will be shortened to about 20 minutes, and Nanjing and Zhenjiang will enter an era of direct main-city connectivity; the expressway should become a major artery enhancing the city's development capacity; after completion, key areas such as the "Baoxia Gao" area, Zhenjiang High-tech Zone, the university park, and Guantang Innovation Community will be linked together and develop in a coordinated way; the expressway should become a major bond enhancing innovation leadership; after completion, resource factors will flow faster, thereby accelerating the rise of the G312 Industrial Innovation Corridor and attracting innovative industries and talent to gather quickly.

Xu Shuhai expressed the hope that the local Party committees, governments, and relevant municipal departments will keep their eyes on the goals, overcome difficulties, advance construction with high standards, high efficiency, and high quality, and strive to make the expressway upgrade project a demonstration project of close cooperation, a popular project satisfying the people, and a safe and reliable premium project.

Xing Zhengjun said that with the upcoming operation of the Nanjing-Jurong intercity railway and the advancement of projects such as the National Highway 312 expressway upgrade, the time and space distance between the two cities will be further shortened, economic and industrial ties will be strengthened, and momentum will be provided for coordinated urban development. The official start of construction of the Zhenjiang section of the National Highway 312 expressway upgrade project marks the project's entry into the substantive construction stage and also means a key step toward the full expressway upgrade of the entire Nanjing-Zhenjiang section of National Highway 312. At present, Nanjing is accelerating relevant work on the Nanjing section of National Highway 312, striving to start construction as soon as possible and give full play to the function of the Nanjing-Zhenjiang expressway network at an early date. At the same time, it is hoped that the two cities will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation, jointly promote the integrated development of Nanjing and Zhenjiang, accelerate integration into the national strategy of Yangtze River Delta integration, and make new and greater contributions to serving the construction of a new development pattern.

It is understood that the expressway upgrade project of the Nanjing-Zhenjiang section of National Highway 312 starts in the east at Daimenmen in Zhenjiang and runs westward along National Highway 312 to the Nanjing-Zhenjiang boundary, with a total length of 35.12 kilometers. The main road adopts the standard of a two-way, six-lane first-class highway, with no traffic lights along the entire route, a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour, and is planned to be completed and opened to traffic by the end of 2023.

Jiang Zhusheng, a second-level inspector of the Provincial Department of Transportation, and municipal leaders Zhan Lifeng, Sun Xiaonan, Chen Keke, Hu Zongyuan, and others jointly laid the foundation for the project. Photo by Xie Daoyun