The second expressway, or the northern passageway, linking Beijing with north China's Tianjin Municipality started its construction Thursday.

It will bring about an upgrade in the traffic speed between the two municipalities when completed, said an official with the Ministry of Communications.

The official said the expressway is one of the three which are planned by the ministry to be built or reconstructed between Beijing and Tianjin so as to alleviate the heavy traffic between the two cities.

The northern passageway measures 134.8 km with eight lanes and it is planned to be open to traffic in 2008.

Additionally, the already existing Beijing-Tianjin expressway will be broadened from four lanes to eight, said the official.

The third eight-lane expressway, or the southern passageway, is planned to be constructed by combining three sections of highways between the two cities, measuring 163 km in total.

The Ministry of Communications predicts that the traffic volume between Beijing and Tianjin will reach 390,000 passenger vehicles by 2027.

The official said the three expressways with 24 lanes will meet the traffic needs in the region.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2005)