On October 15, 2025, the Hubei Provincial Public Resource Trading Network released the latest announcement that the HYTJ-2 section of the Shanghai Chongqing Expressway renovation and expansion project, which had undergone bidding process adjustments, was finally awarded to China Railway 19th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. for 2.577 billion yuan. The newly added winning bid section is a key component of the Wuhan Yichang section of the Shanghai Chongqing Expressway expansion project, marking the comprehensive acceleration of the upgrading process of this transportation artery connecting the core area of the Jianghan Plain. The widening and renovation of multiple sections of roads and the upgrading of facilities have entered the substantive construction preparation stage.

As the longest and most expensive single unit renovation and expansion project in China, the total investment of the Wuhan Yichang section of the Shanghai Chongqing Expressway is 42.2 billion yuan. The main line is 266.261 kilometers long, passing through six cities including Wuhan, Xiaogan, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Jingzhou, and Yichang, connecting the two core areas of the Wuhan metropolitan area and the Yijingjing urban agglomeration. The construction scope of the HYTJ-2 section that won the bid this time is from K964+900 to K981+600, covering densely populated areas such as Xiantao urban area. The main engineering quantities include a 10034 meter long Xiantao urban elevated bridge, three large and medium bridges, six small bridges, and a 5.75-kilometer roadbed project, as well as upgrading and renovating interchanges and greening projects. The construction of this section will directly solve the long-standing traffic bottleneck in the Xiantao urban area and provide more efficient guarantees for the travel of millions of people along the route.

From the perspective of technical standards, this multi section road upgrade adopts a unified renovation and expansion mode of "mainly widening on both sides, locally widening on one side". It is constructed according to the standard of a two-way eight lane expressway, with an overall roadbed width of 42 meters and a design speed increased to 120 kilometers per hour. During construction, not only will aging pavement materials be replaced, but 27 interchanges will also be optimized and upgraded, and the service functions of 5 service areas, 2 parking areas, and 19 ramp toll stations will be simultaneously improved. It is worth noting that the project deeply integrates green and smart concepts, and will adopt high content recycling technology for waste asphalt pavement materials. Through a full lifecycle digital management system, precise control of the construction process will be achieved, minimizing the impact on the surrounding ecology and residents' lives.

The determination of the winning bid result is an important breakthrough in the landing of the Shanghai Chongqing Expressway renovation and expansion project section. Previously, due to the disqualification of the first two winning candidates, the bid section underwent a re bidding process and was ultimately replaced by China Railway 19th Bureau, which has rich experience in transportation engineering construction. The entire process strictly followed the principles of openness, fairness, and impartiality. As of now, apart from the HYTJ-2 section, multiple sections of the renovation and expansion project have been awarded the bid. Among them, the HYSJSG-1 section was won by a consortium led by Hubei Jiaotou Construction Group with a bid of 5.448 billion yuan. Each section will be constructed simultaneously, and the overall construction period is 48 months.

The relevant person in charge of the Hubei Provincial Department of Transport stated that the Shanghai Chongqing Expressway renovation and expansion project is the core support of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network "Yangtze River Delta Chengdu Chongqing Axis". After completion, the project will more than double the traffic capacity of the existing two-way four lane road, saving transportation costs of over 1 billion yuan annually. At the same time, the project will accelerate the cross regional circulation of agricultural and industrial products along the route, and is expected to drive an average annual GDP growth of 1.2 percentage points in the six cities along the route, providing key support for Hubei's "construction of a transportation powerhouse demonstration zone and the creation of a new era of Kyushu thoroughfare". At present, China Railway 19th Bureau has established a special project department to enter the site, and is carrying out construction access road laying and material reserve work. It is expected to officially start the main project construction by the end of 2025.Editor/Bian Wenjun