G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway
The Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway (Chinese: 上海－成都高速公路; pinyin: Shànghǎi-Chéngdū Gāosùgōnglù), designated as G42 and commonly referred to as the Hurong Expressway (simplified Chinese: 沪蓉高速公路; traditional Chinese: 滬蓉高速公路; pinyin: Hù-Róng Gāosùgōnglù) is an east–west bound expressway that connects the eastern metropolis of Shanghai to Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan. The expressway passes through six provinces and serves major cities such as Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, and Yichang. The eastern terminus of G42 is at the Wuning Road Interchange of Shanghai Middle Ring Road. At its western terminus, the expressway intersects the East 3rd Ring Road and connects East Erxianqiao Road in Chenghua District, Chengdu. The expressway spans 1,960 km (1,220 mi) in length.
With the completion of the remaining Chongqing–Yichang segment of the expressway construction in December 2014,Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag It concurs with G40 southwest bound. At a partial cloverleaf interchange east of Feidong County, Hefei, G42 turns north and concurs with G3 Beijing-Taipei Expressway and G4001 Hefei Ring Expressway briefly before splitting with G3 and heads west again. Here, G42 continues to concur with G4011 until Changfeng County, Hefei, where it continues westbound for Lu'an. The expressway then intersects with G35 in Yu'an District, Lu'an and splits with G40 at Huoqiu County, Lu'an. From there, G42 heads southwest into the Dabie Mountains. This portion of expressway generally follows the Anhui S210 Highway corridor, but it bypasses the Meishan Reservoir to the south, and is characterized by expansive bridges and lengthy tunnels. At the village of Changlingguan Pass, the expressway crosses Anhui-Hubei border and enters Macheng, Hubei Province.
Hubei
In Hubei Province, the G42 is a 4-lane limited access tollway, with a speed limit of 100 km/h (62 mph) for its entire length, except for tunnels, in which an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit is enforced. The expressway enters Hubei at the town of Muzidian and continues westbound to the Dabie Mountains Tunnel. With a length of 4,900 m (16,100 ft), the Dabie Mountains Tunnel is the longest tunnel on G42 east of Wuhan.[citation needed] The G42 then heads southwest, bypassing Macheng and intersects with G45 Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway to the west of downtown Macheng. Continuing southwest, the expressway concurs with Hubei S3 Wuhan-Macheng Expressway and turns west on G4201 Wuhan Ring Expressway in Xinzhou District, Wuhan, where it concurs briefly with G70 Fuzhou-Yinchuan Expressway. Through traffic is then carried across the Yangtze River again via the Yangluo Yangtze River Bridge. At the intersection with Hubei S2 Wuhan-Xiaogan Expressway, G42 splits with G70, which concurs with S2 northwest bound, and continues southwest. It then meets Hubei S18 Airport Expressway in Huangpi District, Wuhan and G4 Beijing-Hong Kong and Macau Expressway in Dongxihu District, Wuhan. At the intersection with G4, G42 splits with G4201 and continues westbound. It intersects with Hubei S49 Suizhou-Yueyang Expressway in Tianmen and G55 Erenhot-Guangzhou Expressway to the southwest of downtown Jingmen.
The G42 heads slightly south to reach the hydropower city of Yichang in Yiling District, where it currently terminates at the intersection with G50 Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway, Hubei S48 Wuhan-Yichang Expressway (which becomes Hubei S58 Three Gorges Expressway northwest of downtown Yichang), and Hubei S63 Laohekou-Shishou Expressway.
Chongqing
The G42 is unfinished in Chongqing. The temporary eastern terminus is at the Wushan Interchange in Wushan County. From there the G42 is continuous throughout Chongqing. Due to restraints of the difficult terrains, the maximum speed on the expressway has been set at 80 km/h (50 mph). The expressway runs parallel to the Yangtze River behind the mountains of Three Gorges. At Gujiaba Interchange, G42 intersects with the non designated Wanzhou-Kai County Expressway. It then heads south and bypasses Wanzhou District. At Qinggangba Interchange, the G42 turns westbound and intersects with the Chongqing-Yibin Expressway, which spurs into the downtown of Wanzhou and becomes the G318 National Highway. G42 travels southwest until encountering G50 again in Taiping Interchange, Dianjiang County. The expressway would then travel westbound and enters Mingyue Mountain Tunnel, through which it crosses the Chongqing-Sichuan border and enters Sichuan Province.
Sichuan
In Sichuan Province, the G42 is a four-lane expressway with a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph), except for a few sections in Nanchong and Guang'an, where a 100 km/h (62 mph) speed limit is enforced. At Linshui County, Guang'an, the expressway encounters G65 Baotou-Maoming Expressway and turns northwest bound. It then bypasses Guang'an and continues northwest until intersecting with the unsigned northbound Nanchong Ring Expressway and southbound G75 Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway in Nanchong. The expressway would then continue southwest bound and meet G93 Chengdu-Chongqing Ring Expressway in Chuanshan District, Suining, and bypasses Suining to the north of its downtown. It crosses the Fu River and intersects with the unsigned Huimazhen-Suining Expressway. From there, the expressway continues to the city of Chengdu, where it intersects with G4201 Chengdu Ring Expressway in Longquanyi District at Luoshiba Interchange and proceeds to the East 3rd Ring Road. The G42 terminates after passing the East 3rd Ring Road and dipping briefly onto the East Erxianqiao Road.