History
The Jingtong expressway was the first highway project built under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme in China. The project was awarded to Lin Tung-Yen China with a 20-year concession period (1996-2016). The expressway was opened to the public in 1996.
At around the same time the previous Tong County was upgraded to Tongzhou District, an expressway was built to accelerate the 17 km journey from Dabeiyao on the Eastern 3rd Ring Road, site of the China World Trade Centre, to the newly renamed Tongzhou district. This expressway, known as the Jingtong Expressway, connects metropolitan Beijing with Tongzhou District.
Its construction was of great importance as it quickly sped development in eastern Beijing. The road "urbanised" suburban Tongzhou, bringing with it a steady influx of real estate projects (in particular of note).
In December 2004, a plan was unveiled to local media to interlink the 2.5 km of non-expressway between the Jingtong and Jingha expressways with an express road connection, eliminating traffic bottlenecks between Ximazhuang and Beiguan Roundabout. This link finally opened in December 2006, with the remaining bits and pieces of additional roadworks finishing in early 2007.
Read more about this topic: Jingtong Expressway
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