At 0:00 on November 1, 2021, with the opening of the Minqin-Wuwei section of the Beixian Expressway of the G569 line, Wuwei has achieved the goal of a high-speed ring road. The travel time from Wuwei to Minqin was shortened from the original one and a half hours to less than one hour.

The Minqin-Wuwei section opened to traffic this time is 91.41 kilometers long. It starts from Minqin County in the east, passes through 7 towns including Suwu and Xuebai, and ends at Youjiazhuang, Wunan Town, Liangzhou District, connecting with G30 Lianhuo Expressway. In addition, as the connecting line of Jinwu Expressway and Beixian Expressway, S04 Wuwei Ring Expressway was opened to traffic at the same time, and Wuwei realized the goal of expressway ringing. The main line of Minqin to Wuwei section and the connecting line of Wuwei city ring are constructed according to the two-way four-lane first-class highway standard. The overall roadbed width is 25.5 meters, and the separated roadbed width is 12.75 meters. At present, the road section has opened 4 toll stations in Wuwei East, Jiudun, Hongyashan, and Minqin East, and 2 service areas in Zazigou and Minqin. Most sections of the project pass through the desert Gobi, which is highly sensitive to the environment. During the construction process, the construction unit adopted the design of low embankment and high slope as much as possible, and used the methods of constructing grass grids and planting haloxylon to prevent wind and fix sand, achieving the harmony between the highway and the ecological environment.

Wuwei is located in the middle of Gansu Province and the eastern end of the Hexi Corridor. It is the land of the Chinese tourism symbol. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the four counties of Hexi, successive dynasties have set up prefectures here. Wuwei, which was once the traffic hub of the ancient Silk Road, has achieved historic leaps in expressways in recent years, forming a main skeleton road network with a highway network as the skeleton, national and provincial highways and local high-grade highways as trunk lines, and a smooth connection and a reasonable layout. structure.

In 2015, Beixian Expressway adopted the PPP model to start construction. After the roadbed was completed in 2019, the follow-up promotion was blocked due to the impact of funds. In 2021, the Provincial Department of Transportation, Wuwei City, the Provincial Highway Transportation Construction Group and the original construction unit will jointly negotiate to restart the construction of Beixian Highway. After more than half a year of hard work, the road paving and related facilities were completed and opened to traffic on November 1. Provincial Public Transport Construction Group took advantage of the advantages of provincial state-owned enterprises and established Beixian Project Management Branch to be responsible for project construction and operation.

Beixian Expressway is an important section of the national highway network G569 Mandela to Datong Highway. It is also a major north-south passage connecting Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai. It is important for optimizing the structure of the expressway network in the northwest region, accelerating regional economic and social development, and promoting tourism development. , It is of great significance to enhance cultural exchanges. Editor/He Yuting