Expressways of Shanghai

Shanghai has an expansive grade-separated highway and expressway network consisting of 16 municipal express roads, 10 provincial-level expressways, and 8 national-level expressways. Three municipal expressways and four provincial-level expressways are also under construction.

Municipal express roads

Most municipal express roads are found in the inner districts of Shanghai, including several elevated highways which run directly above surface-level roadways. In Chinese, these expressways are literally termed city high-speed roadways (Chinese: 城市快速道路), and their maximum speed is typically 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). These are still considered expressways or controlled-access highways because of the presence of ramps, grade-separated junctions, and the absence of traffic lights. Most of these expressways are elevated and run above a lower-speed roadway. The Inner Ring Road is a beltway, while the Middle Ring Road, once fully constructed, will also be a beltway.

Primary express roads

These are primary express roads that form a major backbone of expressways within the city core. Of these four, the Inner Ring, North–South, and Yan'an Elevated Roads form a 申 (a Chinese abbreviation for Shanghai) shape. The Middle Ring forms a second orbital surrounding the Inner Ring Elevated Road, but is not yet fully complete.

English name	Chinese characters name	Termini	Notes
Inner Ring Road Also known as Inner Ring Elevated Road	上海内环线 内环高架路	Ring road	47.7 kilometres (29.6 mi) long. Crosses the Huangpu River using the Yangpu Bridge and Nanpu Bridge.
Middle Ring Road	中环路	Jinqiao Road and Pudong Avenue, Pudong Middle Huaxia Road, Shenjiang Road, and Huaxia Elevated Road, Pudong	Sections of Middle Ring Road are still under construction. Its length so far is 59.25 kilometres (36.82 mi). When complete, it will become a ring road. Crosses the Huangpu River using the Jungong Road Tunnel and Shangzhong Road Tunnel.
North–South Elevated Road	南北高架路 (lit. South–North Elevated Road)	Jiyang Road and Yaohua Road, Lupu Bridge Shanghai S20	18.1 kilometres (11.2 mi) long.
Yan'an Elevated Road	延安高架路	Hongqiao International Airport The Bund, Bund Tunnel, East Zhongshan No. 1 Road	15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long.

Auxiliary express roads

These are other express roads that serve as part of the municipal expressway network. Of these, six belong to the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub, a network of municipal expressways serving Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.

English name	Chinese characters name	Termini	Notes
Beidi Elevated Road	北翟高架路	Jiamin Elevated Road Middle Ring Road	7.3 kilometres (4.5 mi) long. Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.
Bund Tunnel	外滩隧道		Speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph).
Dujiaqu Elevated Road	度假区高架路
Hongdi Elevated Road	虹翟高架路		Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.
Hongyu Elevated Road	虹渝高架路		Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.
Huaxia Elevated Road	华夏高架路	Middle Ring Road at Shenjiang Road S1 Yingbin Expressway near Pudong International Airport	15.6 kilometres (9.7 mi) long.
Humin Elevated Road	沪闵高架路	Inner Ring Road G60 / G92 / Shanghai S4 / Shanghai S20	13.32 kilometres (8.28 mi) long.
Jiamin Elevated Road	嘉闵高架路	G312, G60	Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.
Jianhong Elevated Road	建虹高架路		Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.
Luoshan Elevated Road	罗山高架路
Songze Elevated Road	崧泽高架路	G15 Shenyang–Haikou Expressway Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport Terminal 2	Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.
Yixian Elevated Road	逸仙高架路	Inner Ring Road G1501 / Shanghai S20	9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) long.
Caobao Elevated Road	漕宝高架路		Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Under construction.
Hongmei Elevated Road	虹梅高架路		In planning.
Husong Highway Elevated Road	沪松公路高架		In planning.

Provincial expressways

Designations for provincial-level and federal-level expressways in Shanghai had the letter prefix A before the number of the expressway. Starting at the Yingbin Expressway, which was designated the number 1, the numbers increased clockwise around the city. For ring expressways, the designations A20, A30, A40, etc., were used. For expressways connecting to other provinces which already had national designations (beginning with the letter G), designations with the letter A were attached.

In August 2009, Shanghai replaced its system of naming expressways with the prefix A with the letter prefix S, in order to conform to the standard designations for provincial-level highways within China. The S means Shengdao, or provincial-level roads. The letter prefix A was abolished.

Signpost	Designation	Former designation	English name	Chinese characters name	Termini	Notes
	S1	A1	Yingbin Expressway	迎宾高速公路	Shanghai S2 / Shanghai S20 in Pudong New Area Shanghai S32 at Pudong International Airport	18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi) long.
	S2	A2	Shanghai–Luchaogang Expressway	沪芦高速公路	Shanghai S1 / Shanghai S20 in Pudong New Area Yangshan Port, Zhoushan, Zhejiang	74.8 kilometres (46.5 mi) long including the Donghai Bridge.
	S3	A3	Shanghai–Fengxian Expressway	沪奉高速公路		In planning.
	S4	A4	Shanghai–Jinshan Expressway	沪金高速公路	G60 / G92 / Shanghai S20 / Humin Elevated Road in Minhang District G15 in Jinshan District
	S5	A12	Shanghai–Jiading Expressway	沪嘉高速公路	Middle Ring Road Yecheng Road / South Bo'le Road in Jiading District	20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi) long.
	S6	A17	Shanghai–Nanxiang Expressway	沪翔高速公路
	S7	A13	Shanghai–Chongming Expressway	沪崇高速公路		In planning.
	S12	Never assigned	Chongming–Haimen Expressway	崇海高速公路		In planning.
	S16	Never assigned	Shanghai–Yixing Expressway	沪宜高速公路		In planning.
	S19	A6	Xinnong–Jinshanwei Expressway	新卫高速公路	G1501 / Shanghai S36 in Xinnong, Jinshan District Shanghai S301 (Xinwei Highway) in Jinshanwei, Jinshan District
	S20	A20	Outer Ring Expressway	外环高速公路	Ring road	99 kilometres (62 mi) long. Crosses the Huangpu River twice, using the Xupu Bridge to the south and the Outer Ring Tunnel to the north. It is the third in a series of four ring roads around the city of Shanghai.
	S22	Never assigned	Jiading–Anting Expressway	嘉安高速公路		In planning.
	S26	A16	Shanghai–Changzhou Expressway	沪常高速公路	G1501 in Qingpu District Continues as Jiangsu S58 at the Jiangsu border
	S32	A15	Shanghai–Jiaxing–Huzhou Expressway	申嘉湖高速公路	Shanghai S1 at Pudong International Airport Continues as Zhejiang S12 at the Zhejiang border
	S36	A7	Tinglin–Fengjing Expressway	亭枫高速公路	G1501 / Shanghai S19 in Jinshan District G60 in Jiashan County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, just outside Fengjing, Jinshan District

National expressways

National highways and expressways in Shanghai both have the prefix G, an abbreviation for Guodao (国道), which literally means National roads. It is important to note that both grade-separated, controlled-access expressways and normal at-grade highways both have the prefix G. Only the national-level expressways are mentioned here. National-highways which are at grade and not controlled-access are also found in Shanghai, and these include G204, G312, G318, and G320. Expressways also have green-coloured signs while their highway counterparts have red-coloured signs.

Designation	Former Shanghai A designation	English name	Chinese characters name	Termini in Shanghai	Continues towards	Notes
	A11	Beijing–Shanghai Expressway	京沪高速公路	Middle Ring Road Jiangsu border	Beijing	G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway are concurrencies for their entire length in Shanghai.
		Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway	沪蓉高速公路		Chengdu
	A4, A5	Shenyang–Haikou Expressway	沈海高速公路	Jiangsu border Zhejiang border	Shenyang (north) Haikou (south)
	A14	Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway	沪陕高速公路	G1501 (Shanghai Ring Expressway) Jiangsu border	Xi'an
	A9	Shanghai–Chongqing Expressway	沪渝高速公路	S20 Outer Ring Expressway and Yan'an Elevated Road Jiangsu border	Chongqing
	A8	Shanghai–Kunming Expressway	沪昆高速公路	S20 Outer Ring Expressway, S4 Shanghai–Jinshan Expressway, and Humin Elevated Road Zhejiang border	Kunming	G60 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway and G92 Hangzhou Bay Ring Expressway are concurrencies for their entire length in Shanghai.
		G92 Hangzhou Bay Ring Expressway	杭州湾环线高速公路		Ningbo
	A30	Shanghai Ring Expressway	上海绕城高速公路	Ring road almost entirely within Shanghai.[1]

Yangtze River fixed crossing

Shanghai has one bridge-tunnel crossing spanning the Yangtze Delta to the north of the city. The G40 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway follows the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel from Pudong to Changxing Island, and then over the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge from Changxing to Chongming Island and finally via the Chongming–Qidong Yangtze River Bridge from Chongming to Qidong in Jiangsu Province on the north bank of the river. A second fixed crossing is planned to the west of this bridge, and will become part of the S7 Shanghai–Chongming Expressway.

References