City With Reputation for Roadworks Limits Construction

Following mass inconvenience, Changchun bans road excavation for five months of every year.

By Liang Chenyu

Roadworks are a common sight in any Chinese city, and some urban areas can feel as though they are permanently under construction. After numerous complaints from fed-up residents, one major city has restricted construction work on its streets.

Changchun, the capital of northeastern China’s Jilin province, has introduced interim rules banning road excavation from Nov. 1 to April 15 every year, and stipulating that new roads cannot be rebuilt within five years of being put into service, Changchun Evening News reported Thursday.

If evacuation or reconstruction is necessary within five years due to special circumstances, the guidelines say, the municipal government must approve the public works. The policy could help prevent unwarranted construction in a sector considered high-risk for corruption.

The announcement also promises more cooperation between municipal construction and public utilities bureaus to ensure underground works are completed before surface restoration commences unless urgency demands otherwise.

Urban planning consultant Song Li told Sixth Tone that Changchun has seen a surge in roadworks since 2016 with repairs to the city’s water and gas supply and drainage systems.

“Inconsiderate planning coupled with poor corporation [between districts] has brought an abundance of roadworks and much inconvenience to citizens,” Song said. But he explained that the bulk of work is now complete, and since 2017, there has been greater coordination at district and municipal levels.

The policy announcement may satisfy some netizens, like one user of Baidu’s Tieba online forum. “Why does Changchun start rebuilding roads every spring?” the user asked in 2016. “Is this some sort of regional specialty?”

But some residents remain skeptical. “I’ll wait and see what happens,” one commented under the news.

Editor: Qian Jinghua.

(Header image: Workers repair a road in Shanghai, March 3, 2009. VCG)

You may also want to read: 

Want to get Sixth Tone stories delivered to your email? 

Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly roundup of the latest news and trending topics from China. 

Sign up here: 

http://ow.ly/zgv530cPeV4 

(Copy and paste the URL into your browser)