Crossing the Gurbantunggut Desert and Junggar Basin, Xinjiang’s first desert highway will go straight from Urumqi to Altay. On March 20th, the Altay-Urumqi highway construction project of the S21 line was held in Wujiaqu City. After the completion of the highway construction, it will become the first desert highway in Xinjiang. “Altay area, the journey is shortened to about 4 hours.
The Xinjiang Altay-Urumqi Expressway Construction Project (line A21) for S21 line (referred to as the Awu Expressway) is invested by Xinjiang Transportation Investment Co., Ltd. It is the first article in the true sense of the trading company from the early stage of the project, fundraising, engineering bidding, organization and implementation, etc. Highway construction projects independently managed by various parties. Luo Xiaogang, the commander of the project, said that the Awu Expressway will be constructed in two phases. The first phase of the project is from Huanghuagou to Urumqi, with a main line length of 229.188 kilometers; the second phase of the project from Fuhai to Huanghuagou, with a main line length of 113.350 kilometers and a connecting line length of 3.647 kilometers. The whole line is planned to be completed on August 30, 2022, and the same day round trip can be realized after opening to traffic.
The S21 Awu Expressway project route starts from Beitun City, the 10th Division of the Corps, passes Beitun City, Fuhai County, Wujiaqu City, Changji Prefecture, and Urumqi City, and ends at the proposed West Ring Road Expressway in Urumqi. The total length of the route is 342.538 kilometers, and the design speed is 120 kilometers per hour. Among them, the Altay (Beitun) to Wujiaqu section adopts the two-way four-lane expressway standard, and the Wujiaqu to Urumqi section uses the two-way six-lane expressway standard. The Huanghuagou to Urumqi section started first, starting at Huanghuagou in Fuhai County, Altay, and ending at the southeast of Hongyan Lake Village, connecting with Urumqi West Ring Highway, passing through the Huanghuagou, Jilagou, and Gurbantonggut Deserts. Shixi Special Highway, Regiment 103 (Caijiahu Town), Regiment 102 (Wutong Town), Wujiaqu North Industrial Park, Wujiaqu City, Woolong Town, Mengjin Reservoir. The main line is 229.188 kilometers long and 150.090 kilometers across desert and desert sections.
This section has 1 bridge, 2 middle bridges, 12 small bridges, 5 interchanges, 2 U-turns, 3 service areas (including gas stations and charging stations, etc.), 2 parking areas, 6 ETC mast system. Xinjiang Transportation Investment Co., Ltd. Awu Expressway Co., Ltd. executive director introduced that the implementation of this project can increase the connection between the central area of the Xinjiang capital and the Altay region of the 10th Division of the Corps and shorten the distance between regions. It saves 258 kilometers and 193 kilometers more than the “G216 channel”. Most of the roads are located in the Gurbantonggut Desert, one of the five most beautiful deserts in China. The natural conditions are unique, the terrain is wide, and there are fewer traffic nodes and vehicles. The operating environment is good, and based on the positioning of basic functions, it will be built into “the nation’s first desert adventure tourism highway with deep integration of transportation” and “science and technology innovation demonstration highway”.