On the morning of October 31, five representative citizens (Ding Suling being one of them), representatives of the constructors of the project and Liu Qi, Vice Secretary of Ningbo Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Ningbo, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the airport expressway. When asked about this experience, Ding Suling felt both honored and warm. She said proudly, "The experience shows that even an ordinary citizen like me can take part in the major or minor issues in Ningbo."
The airport expressway is the first completed urban overhead expressway in Ningbo. As the secretary of the general party branch and director of the neighborhood committee of Xicheng Community, Ding Suling has participated quite a few times in the symposiums hosted by the constructing company of the project to submit the opinions and suggestions of the local people to the constructors and communicate their responses to the local people. With the smooth progress of the expressway, the life and travel of the people in the western part of the city become more convenient. "People are saying that it may help them to save more time on road with the opening of the expressway." Ding said.
Li Jinyong from Tianjin Urban Construction Group, who is the person in charge of the project of the overhead expressway said that it never occurred to him that he would be chosen as one of the representatives of the constructors to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "I have been in this field for about sixteen years and after undertaking so many big or small projects, this is the first time for me to attend such a ceremony." According to him, this project is the biggest and hardest one he has ever had. Under great pressure, he has stayed in the construction site even during the Spring Festival holidays for several years. "But when I was cutting the ribbon, I felt that all these years’ efforts are worthwhile and I felt so honored and proud for my job."
After the opening ceremony, a team of vehicles loaded with representatives of citizens started from the Zhongshan overpass viaduct down to No. 34 Provincial Road to enable them to experience the convenience of the new expressway. "We can drive at a speed of 60 km per hour, and it only takes about ten minutes to get to No. 34 Provincial Road. There will be no need to worry about traffic jams when we are trying to catch the plane." a Mr. Gao said with excitement.
Ms. He, who lives in the western area but works in Dongqiao County of Yinzhou District, paid much attention to the routes. "If one is driving from the north to the south, he may turn into the viaduct from Qinglinwan Bridge and its on-ramp, West Zhongshan Road on-ramp, Qiyun Road on-ramp or Yinxian Avenue on-ramp, and come down the viaduct from Qinglinwan Bridge on-ramp, South Ring Road on-ramp, Yinxian Avenue on-ramp or No. 34 Provincial Road Overpass. If one is driving from the south to the north, he may turn into the viaduct from No. 34 Provincial Road Overpass, Yinxian Avenue on-ramp, South Ring Road on-ramp or Qinglinwan Bridge on-ramp, and he may come down from Yinxian Avenue on-ramp, Qiyun Road on-ramp, West Zhongshan Road on-ramp or Qinglinwan Bridge on-ramp." She told the reporter that she would put down the details of the turning in and out of the viaduct and then tell her friends about it. "There are still some sectors being under construction, and I hope to help them avoid the wrong way." she said.
Zhuo Xianglai, Vice Chairman of Ningbo People's Congress, Vice-mayor Su Limian, Vice-mayor Wang Renzhou, and Chang Minyi, Vice Chairman of Ningbo People's Political Consultative Conference attended the opening ceremony and cut ribbon for the opening of the airport expressway.
