Guiyang tackling traffic problem

Chen Gang, Party chief of Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, stressed on Friday that to cope with its traffic problem, the government needs to upgrade its urban planning.  [Special coverage]

As a third-tier city, Guiyang is faced with the challenge of modernizing its development, and transportation is a problem hindering its further progress, he said at the 2nd session of the 11th Guizhou provincial committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Committee.

Due to its lack of urban planning in its early days, Guiyangs urban population density now amounts to 51,500 people per square kilometer and its construction density is much higher than that of Beijing and Shanghai, Chen said.

"As the two ring roads in the city are too far away from each other, we propose building a 1.5 ring road — a ring road between the two to relieve traffic pressure," Chen said.

Guiyang is striving to improve its public transport system and has started to build a metro system. Metro line 1 is forecast to come on line by 2016.

"Meanwhile, the government also plans to develop four BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems within two years. Certain roads that contribute to serious traffic problems will be demolished," Chen said.

Traffic jams seems to disrupt many residents daily life and Guiyang launched seven open platforms in November for people to suggest ideas on how to tackle the problem.