Middle Ring of Shanghai

Went to Jeff’s birthday party today. The air-con of my car (goudaner) stopped functioning, so we went to the FIAT 4S store, and had it fixed. After that, we went to the middle ring of Shanghai. It is the first time I use that elevated highway.

The Middle Ring

The elevated highway system in Shanghai consists of 4 rings, and 2 cross highway inside the city, and more than 10 radical highway to outside.

The inner ring was firstly built, and then the outter ring (A20). Later the A30 ring is almost completed. Now, the middle ring was built between the inner ring and outer ring. It will be the major transportation road for Shanghai.

Now, the Middle Ring from Hongmei Road 虹梅路 and the Xiangyin Road Tunnel 翔殷路隧道 has been completed.

Illustration of Middle Ring

The road was built with 8 lanes (4 lanes per direction). The north side of the ring is elevated. The west 1/4 of the ring is almost all on the ground. This design is very similiar with the Beijing 3rd Ring and 4th Ring - there are 10 - 12 lanes (5 - 6 per direction). The 4 lanes are expressway (part of inner ring), and the outside 1 or two lanes are local road. They are seperated and connected with ramps. In Beijing, it is called Main road (主路), and Side Road(辅路). This design seems to be firstly used in middle ring in Shanghai.

The Middle Ring and the local road are at the same level, and are seperated.

More Interchanges

Here is the satellite image of one of the interchange between Middle Road and the Chengdu Road.

© Google Maps. The north-most part of the Middle Ring - the interchange of Middle Ring and the Chendu Road (north-south elevated road)

Pudong Section has not Started

The part of Middle Ring is Pudong has not started yet.