At 15:58 today, the Hengyong and Yongling expressways officially opened to traffic. Chen Feng, a resident of Yongzhou, was the first to drive onto the Hengyong Expressway. When passing through the Qishan Tunnel, the blue-sky-and-white-clouds mural caught his eye—there was no longer a "black hole" or "white light" effect, and he could maintain a speed of 120 km/h, giving him a better driving experience.

　　As an additional line in Hunan Province's "seven vertical and nine horizontal" expressway network plan, the Hengyong and Yongling projects start in Yumushan Town, Hengyang City, connecting with the G0421 Xuguang Expressway, pass through Hengyang City (Zhengxiang District, Yanfeng District, Hengnan County, Qidong County) and Yongzhou City (Qiyang City, Lengshuitan District, Dong'an County, Economic Development Zone), and end in Fujiaqiao Town, Lingling District. The route is 165 kilometers long, with an estimated total investment of 22.382 billion yuan.

　　With the opening of the Hengyong and Yongling expressways, the drive between Hengyang and Yongzhou has been shortened to one hour. This is of great significance for improving the province's expressway network, advancing Yongzhou's efforts to build the "one core, two axes, three circles" strategic framework, and accelerating the formation of a tourism circle centered on Hengyang, Yongzhou, and Chenzhou.

　　The Hengyong Expressway project actively responds to the national strategy of building a digital power and is creating a "digital expressway." It comprehensively applies digital technologies such as BIM, big data, digital twins, and artificial intelligence throughout the entire process of design, construction, and operation, improving the safety and service level of the Hengyong Expressway project. A number of innovative achievements have won national awards.

　　The "digital brain" jointly developed by the Hengyong Expressway and the Hunan Provincial Communications Research Institute can identify and issue alerts for 21 types of traffic incidents in real time and automatically generate hundreds of targeted control strategies. The 2,590-meter Qishan Tunnel is Hunan Province's first integrated road-tunnel digital tunnel, featuring real-time trajectory tracking and intelligent analysis, enabling second-level detection, one-click handling, and rapid coordination of abnormal events. Toll stations have achieved unmanned toll collection throughout the entire process of card issuance and payment, and overall vehicle traffic efficiency is expected to increase by 30%.