The Wangxian Hub-Shisanmen Hub section of the G6022 Liling-Loudi Expressway officially opened to traffic on July 29, 2025. 

This marks the Liling-Loudi Expressway, also the expansion project of Liling-Loudi section of the G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, has been fully completed and began operation. A new east-west transport artery has been added to Hunan's expressway network. 

The Liling-Loudi Expressway is a critical part of Hunan's "two axes" in the provincial "two rings, two axes, eight vertical, and eight horizontal" expressway network layout. It starts from Liling, Zhuzhou City in the east, and stretches to Loudi City in the west, connecting Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, and Loudi cities. With a total length of approximately 154.271 kilometers, the expressway has 13 toll stations and three pairs of service areas along the route. The entire section features two-way six lanes, with a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

The G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway Hunan section has seen increasing transport pressure in recent years. Upon opening, the Liling-Loudi Expressway joins the recently renovated Jinyushi (Jiangxi Province)-Liling Expressway to form a high-efficiency expressway network. This network will effectively divert the traffic flow in Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, and Loudi sections of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, alleviating congestion and improving the east-west transportation efficiency in Hunan Province. Moreover, it is of great significance for enhancing Hunan's economic synergy with the Yangtze River Delta and the Yunnan-Guizhou regions.

The Zhuzhou Xiangjiang River Grand Bridge on the Liling-Loudi Expressway is currently the largest-span extradosed cable-stayed bridge on the Xiangjiang River with the widest single box girder in China. Beyond that, the bridge crosses over the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, setting three records of largest tonnage, widest deck, and most complex geological conditions for Hunan's swivel expressway bridges. 

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn