The ancient city wall was demolished and the old city gate disappeared, but with the rapid development of economy, Wu Hanyou has built a new "city gate". 199 1 year, Huang Wu Expressway, the earliest expressway in Hubei, was built in the center of Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone. The expressway exit is also the east gate of Wuhan in the eyes of Wuhan citizens. At 8 o'clock on March 22, 2006, in order to adapt to the rapid development of the city, Wuhan Dongdaemun moved 6 kilometers eastward-the new Wudong toll station with an investment of 25 million yuan was officially put into use. Zhonghuan Road, which connects National Highway 107 and Wu Jindi, is an important exit passage for Wuhan, and is also called "the South Gate of Wuhan" among Wuhan citizens. As there are Baishazhou Urban Industrial Park, Baishazhou Farmers' Market and many universities along the highway, a large number of new residential areas along Wu Jindi are attracting many citizens to buy houses, so traffic jams have become a common occurrence. On June 5438+ 10 last year, in order to clear the traffic vein at the south gate of Jiangcheng, the transportation department built four new connecting passages, namely Jiangguo Road and Jiang Tai Road, between the national highway 107 and Wu Jindi. This year, Wuhan has invested another 2 billion yuan to rebuild Wuchang Railway Station, build new roads around Ziyang East Road, Meijiashan Interchange and East Square, open up Jinshui Road, dismantle the viaduct in front of Zhongshan Road, and change vehicles to four lanes. Another East Square Road will be built, starting from the north of Ziyang East Road in the north and ending at the south of Square South Road in the south, forming a three-dimensional traffic network. After the renovation project is completed at the end of next year, the traffic layout of the south gate of Wuhan will also undergo historic changes. The exit of Wuhan West Toll Station of Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway is the west gate of Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway entering and leaving Wuhan. Wuhan North Gate is the exit from Hankou to huangpi district. Due to the uneven roads, the number of super-long trucks entering and leaving the Zhuyeshan steel market is frequent, and the number of residents in Houhu area has increased sharply. Now it has become the biggest "blocking point" among the four gates in Wuhan. Central Evergreen Overpass connects Wuhan downtown and Tianhe Airport, which is the key point to get through the north gate of Wuhan. At present, the overpass is under intensive construction and is expected to be completed before the opening of the 2007 Women's World Cup and the National Urban Games.

"City Circle" abandons the concept of "portal"

The construction of the expressway has given the three towns in Wuhan a new "gate", but the meaning of this "gate" is essentially different from that of the old city gate. In fact, the economic concept of "city circle" has been introduced into the grand plan of Wuhan people's construction-opening the door, which is a symbol of urban modernization. Wuhan City Circle refers to an urban community with Wuhan as the core and a radius of 100 km, including Huangshi, Ezhou, Xiaogan, Huanggang, Xianning, Xiantao, Qianjiang and Tianmen, and other eight surrounding cities in Wuhan and Hubei Province. This is the most densely populated area in Hubei and the most potential and dynamic area in Central China. The short-term goal of Wuhan Metropolitan Area is to build Wuhan Metropolitan Area into one of the important economic growth poles in the inland areas of China by 2020. Experts predict that in the future, with Wuhan city circle as the core area, Zhengzhou, Nanchang, Hefei, Changsha and other city circles will echo each other and develop together, and the central region will form a wider pattern of urban economic integration. Focusing on Wuhan City Circle, Central Plains City Circle, Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Circle and Wanjiang City Belt, we will form urban agglomerations that support economic development and population agglomeration and drive the development of surrounding areas. This statement not only formally listed Wuhan city circle in the document 10 on the rise of central China for the first time, but also listed Wuhan city circle as the first of the four major urban agglomerations to promote the rise of central China. Perhaps, in the eyes of many people, "8+ 1" is just a concept. I never thought it would have a far-reaching impact on our lives: Wuhan light rail extends to the surrounding areas, and the county-level cities in the circle are directly accessible in 2 hours; Within three years, Wuhan bus IC card will be "one card line" in nine cities in the city circle; "PHS" interworking, telecom universal area code, mobile phone roaming, realize the integration of information in the circle; In industry, transportation, education, finance, tourism and many other fields. Regional blockades and trade barriers have been completely broken ... Open the topographic map, "8+ 1" looks like a blooming flower, showing a strong explosive force. Driven by market integration, the economic geography of Wuhan is being endowed with new connotations, and the outline of a brand-new "Greater Wuhan" is becoming clearer and clearer.