Democratic practices in GD | The commute for more than 200,000 people

Situated at south Zhongshan, Tanzhou Town is adjacent to Zhuhai. Data shows that the number of daily commuters between Zhongshan and Zhuhai grew from 109,000 in 2017 to 215,000 in 2020.  

Due to the dilapidated dead-end roads and bridges at the border of Zhongshan and Zhuhai, the cross-city journey for the daily commuters was not easy.

Thanks to the proposal from a local deputy and cross-departmental cooperation of the two cities, construction of the then dead-end roads and bridges were restarted and some projects have been completed and start operation. The daily commute become more convenient for over 200,000 people.

A heart-warming proposal from local deputy

Hou Xuemei, deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, is one of them. Working for Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc., she takes the shuttle bus from Zhuhai to Tanzhou Town, Zhongshan every day.

What Hou felt strongly about was the fact that many commuters had to take a bus from one city to the terminal, get off, walk through the border to the other city, and then take another bus, as there were no intercity buses. They had to spend nearly two hours traveling each way.

“Some dead-end roadways and bridges result in a serious traffic jam. A half-hour trip often takes an hour. Together with Zhuhai Transport Authority and staff of Zhongshan People’s Government, I checked ten problematic roadways on the spot,” she said.

After conducting on-site research and field trips, she submitted Suggestions on the Solution for Cross-border Roads between Zhuhai and Zhongshan during the Two Sessions of Guangdong Province in January 2021.

“To solve the problem, a number of departments from both cities needed to work together, ” she added.

The opening of new commuter routes

In June of 2021, Hou received a detailed reply on the issue from the Department of Transport of Guangdong Province.

Kuang Guangrong, a member of the Tanzhou Town Party Committee and deputy head of Tanzhou Town, Zhongshan, was then in charge of the construction projects of the cross-border roads between Zhongshan and Zhuhai.

“The roads linked industrial parks and residential areas and are important for local residents. We’ve overcome many challenges in the past two years, including shortage of funds and difficulties in demolition and land acquisition,” he said.  

Despite the limited town funds, they raised about 120 million RMB to support the project that connect Shennong Road in Tanzhou Town to Yunfeng Road in Xiangzhou, Zhuhai. This new road was recently opened to traffic.

Since the second half of 2021, from a deputy’s proposal to the cooperation of various departments, six Zhongshan-Zhuhai cross-city roads have been opened and another three roads will be completed in 2024. For the cross-city commuters, life is getting more convenient and happier.

Presented by Southcn.com & GDToday

English version: Fanny, Guo Guo, Lu Lu

English Editors: Wing, Olivia, Nan, Will 

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