A FLYOVER extending Caitian Road North to Meilin Checkpoint was put into operation yesterday (Apr 3), and is expected to ease the traffic bottleneck on Caitian Road North towards the direction of the checkpoint.

The flyover also links Caitian Road North and North Ring Road.

A taxi driver said there used to be traffic jams from the nearby Huancai Flyover to Meilin Checkpoint during peak hours and the flow of traffic was very slow during normal hours.

At 8:30 a.m. yesterday, however, the traffic was very smooth as a result of the new flyover.

"It (the flyover) will play a bigger role later when more people turn to use it," said an engineer who worked on the project, adding that some may not yet be aware of the flyover.

The 60-million-yuan (US$7.5 million) project for the six-lane, 18-meter-wide flyover took 16 months to complete, after work began November 2004.

"The flyover will also link the east and west sections of Meilin Road, which has been blocked for years, and the traffic condition of all the Meilin area will be improved," said the taxi driver.

The project to link the two sections of the blocked Meilin Road, however, is still under construction and will be finished soon, according to the Shenzhen Evening News.

Editor: Wing