Yichang launches three-year transport offensive
2026-01-29 21:01:12
By Chen Zai
Yichang has unveiled a “three-year build-out offensive” for transport infrastructure, launching the initiative at a municipal conference on January 28, 2026.
Yichang has unveiled a “three-year build-out offensive” for transport infrastructure, launching the initiative at a municipal conference on January 28, 2026.
A bird’s-eye view of the busy waterway in Yichang.
Photo by Wang Gang.
Photo by Wang Gang.
The city plans to invest 42 billion yuan in 2026 alone, targeting expressways, Yangtze River bridges, rural roads, and waterway projects. Key milestones for the year include completing two expressways and one bridge, including the Yilai Expressway, while accelerating work on five roads and two bridges, and breaking ground on two additional roads and one bridge. Concurrently, the city will upgrade 600 kilometers of rural roads and commence supporting works for the Three Gorges New Waterway.
The 2026 targets build on a busy 2025, when Yichang simultaneously advanced four Yangtze River bridges, ten expressways, and 87 highway and waterway projects. By year’s end, expressway mileage reached 840 kilometers, and port cargo throughput hit 156 million tons. The city also led Hubei Province in green maritime infrastructure, with 141 new-energy vessels under construction, ranking first in the province, and 75 aging commercial vessels decommissioned, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the provincial total.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), Yichang completed 165.5 billion yuan in transport investment. The 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030) is expected to exceed 200 billion yuan. Maintaining a rhythm of starting and completing at least one expressway annually, the city anticipates surpassing 1,200 kilometers of expressways and 180 million tons of port throughput by 2030.
