The Lhasa Airport Expressway (), officially the Lhasa to Gonggar Airport Expressway (), also shortened to the ''Lagong Expressway'' () is an expressway that links
Lhasa Gonggar Airport to the city center of
Lhasa
Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China.
Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...
, the capital of the autonomous region of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. The expressway is designated as S1, however this designation is unsigned, and signposts on the expressway simply refer to it as the ''Airport Expressway'' ().
Construction
The expressway from Lhasa to Gonggar Airport in
Shannan Prefecture is the first expressway to be built in the
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...
.
Construction began in April 2009.
In May 2011 it was reported that the bridges and culverts were complete and tunnel construction was almost finished, with
66 percent of the road paved.
The expressway was completed eleven months ahead of schedule early in July 2011 at a cost of 1.59 billion yuan.
The opening ceremony was held on 17 July 2011, attended by Vice President
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
.
Tibetan traditional dancers performed during the ceremony.
Description
The expressway is long and has four lanes.
It provides a link from metropolitan Lhasa's downtown to
Lhasa Gonggar Airport, the international airport serving the city. The expressway begins in the south end just west of the airport, and ends in the southeastern part of
Doilungdêqên District, in
Liuwu New Area near
Lhasa railway station.
The speed limit is . Roadside lighting is solar powered.
Travel time is shortened to 30 minutes, half the time with the previous route.
Formerly travelers from the airport used the congested
China National Highway 318.
The expressway connects at an interchange with the
G4219 Qüxü–Nêdong Expressway just north of the
Yarlung Tsangpo River. This section of the G42
19 opened on 8 December 2017 for trial operations.
References
Sources
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Transport in China
Doilungdêqên District
Qüxü County
Expressways in Tibet
2011 in Lhasa