According to the Xinhua agency, the construction of the world's longest high-speed road tunnel, the Tian Shan Shengli, was completed on Monday in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China, as reported by Kazpravda.kz citing RIA Novosti.
Once operational, the 22.13-kilometer tunnel will reduce travel time through the central part of the Tian Shan mountains from several hours to approximately 20 minutes. The tunnel will connect the northern and southern parts of the autonomous region.
The agency specifies that the road will be fully opened to traffic in 2025. The travel time between the administrative center of the region, the city of Urumqi in the north, and the Lopnur County in the south will decrease from about seven hours to just over three hours.