The Yan'an Road E. Tunnel across the Huangpu River, which is prone to traffic jams, will have two new tunnels to take the strain by 2010, officials from Shanghai said yesterday.

They also said a total of six new vehicle tunnels will be completed in time to serve the World Expo 2010.

"Locals will find it much easier to cross the Huangpu River," Cai Yifeng, a senior engineer of Shanghai Transportation Planning Institute, said yesterday.

All six tunnels are under construction and two will help alleviate congestion in Yan'an Road E. Tunnel.

The Renmin Road Tunnel, which will link Renmin Road in Puxi and Dongchang Road in Pudong, is the closest to Yan'an Road E. Tunnel.

Traffic experts estimated the new tunnel will alleviate much of the traffic from Henan Road, Yan'an Road and the entire Bund area.

Some 50 wedding dress stores along Renmin Road have been relocated to make way for the new tunnel.

Xinjian Road Tunnel will link Xinjian Road in Hongkou District, Puxi, with Yincheng Road E. in Pudong. It will alleviate traffic in the Northern Bund area and reduce the number of vehicles going downtown to use the Yan'an Road E. Tunnel.

The other four tunnels across the Huangpu River planned for opening by 2010 include Shangzhong Road Tunnel in the south, Xizang Road S. Tunnel to the Expo site, Jungong Road Tunnel and the No.2 Dapu Road Tunnel.

The Yan'an Road E. Tunnel is the city's busiest of the 10 connections between Pudong and Puxi, with at least 20 bus routes using the tunnel.

During rush hours, about 3,000 vehicles pass through the tunnel each hour, about a third more than is maximum capacity.

Even during normal hours, long queues of traffic are often banked up at both entrances to the tunnel.

(Shanghai Daily October 13, 2007)