Songpu Bridge to open to motor vehicle traffic
Workers put finishing touches to the Songpu Bridge, where an upper layer for motor traffic is set to open on August 30.
Motor lanes on the Songpu Bridge, a bridge over the Huangpu River in southern Shanghai, will open to traffic on August 30, road transportation authorities said on Friday.
Afterward, the lower layer for pedestrians and non-motor vehicles on the two-layer bridge will be closed for a revamp, and the work is expected to be finished by the end of this year.
The Songpu Bridge, built over 40 years ago, was the very first bridge across the Huangpu River, which runs through the city.
The lower layer of the bridge once served railway traffic, but train traffic on the bridge halted in 2012 when a new bridge for high-speed trains was opened.
The lower layer was transformed to provide passage for pedestrians and non-motor vehicles, making it the only bridge over the river that allows such transit.
The new lower layer was opened in February last year.
The upper layer to be opened on August 30 now has six lanes, while it had only two before. However, only two lanes will open as the Cheting Highway, on which the bridge is located, has only two lanes. Authorities plans to expand the highway later.
