The 270-meter twin towers of Xiangshan Bridge, part of Phase 1 of the Zhongshan Eastern Outer Ring Expressway, rose like a giant organ above the Hengmen Waterway on August 22.

With the entire route now basically ready for operation, the expressway has entered its final countdown, with opening scheduled by the end of December.

Phase 1 spans 34.17 kilometers, starting at Dayan Island in Huangpu Town in the north, linking with the Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Jiangmen Expressway, and passing through Sanjiao Town, Minzhong Subdistrict and Torch Hi-Tech Zone before terminating in Nanlang Subdistrict. The route includes five interchanges.

Upon opening, the expressway will connect with the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the Guangzhou-Macao Expressway and other major routes. Travel time from northern Zhongshan, such as Huangpu and Sanjiao, to Qianhai and Bao'an in Shenzhen will be reduced to about 40 minutes, over 20 minutes faster than the previous detour, while commuting between Minzhong Subdistrict and Torch Hi-Tech Zone will be slashed by nearly 70 percent.

The northern extension of Phase 2 will link with the Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Line and the Foshan Outer Ring Road. Upon its opening, travel time from Huangpu to Ronggui in Shunde will be shortened from 50 minutes to about 22.