Airport Expressway (heading towards the airport, July 2004 image)Speed limit signs on the Airport ExpresswayThe Airport Expressway Toll Gate at XiaotianzhuOld Airport Road (August 2004 image)
Opened in 1993, the expressway links Sanyuanqiao on the northeastern 3rd Ring Road to Beijing Airport. Another expressway, the 2nd Airport Expressway, was built in 2008 prior to the Beijing Olympics to serve traffic from the city to the airport.
Route
The Airport Expressway runs entirely within the confines of the municipality of Beijing.
The expressway opened on September 14, 1993, following a year-long construction effort which began on July 2, 1992. Previously, all traffic used the old Airport Road (G101), which was tested to the limit in the early 1990s.
This expressway has slashed driving time to the airport from the previous hour (using the old airport road) to just around 15 minutes. It is convenient and traffic is usually smooth.
Further approach routes to the airport were built in the first decade of the 21st century. The Northern Airport Line (机场北线), completed between 2005 and 2006, connected the Jingcheng Expressway with the northern part of the airport, to form a northern approach route. The route commences at Lutong, just over halfway between the 5th Ring Road and the 6th Ring Road, on the Jingcheng Expressway. In 2008, another route, the 2nd Airport Expressway, was built between the eastern 5th Ring Road and the airport in time for the Beijing Olympics. Both routes have significantly alleviated traffic to the airport from the city proper.
Road conditions
Speed limit
Leftmost lane: minimum 100 km/h, maximum 120 km/h. Other lanes: minimum 60 – 80 km/h, maximum 100 km/h.
Tolls
The toll collection on the Airport Expressway has a contentious history. Construction was funded by the government using a bank loan in 1993, and residents began to dispute the rationale for the toll collection several years after the road was completed, doubting that the loan was paid off and that most of the revenue was actually used to pay back the loan. Despite these inquiries and complaints, the local government continued to collect tolls. The toll collection rights were eventually sold to a public corporation, the Capital Development Corporation, and the time of toll collection was lengthened by 30 years.[2] The central government's general accounting office investigated and found that in the 14 year period (up to 2005), the total toll revenue was over 3 billion yuan; this was much higher than the original investment amount, 1.2 billion yuan. Under pressure, the local government lowered the toll from 15 to 10 yuan.
CNY 0.5/km as of 5th Ring Road intersection for sections south of the toll gate. Entire stretch from Sanyuanqiao to Beijing Capital International Airport costs CNY 5 (price for small passenger cars). As of June 2011, the Airport Express is free of charge into the city, but retains the CNY 5 fare toward the airport. Note: For frequent users, a sensor-style Express Transit Card is available.
Lanes
6 lanes (3 up, 3 down) uniformly.
Traffic
Good during the day. Mild traffic jams during rush hour, mostly in the southern section of the road near Beijing.
This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table. Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one. Please improve this article if you can.(November 2021)
Listed are exits heading northeast as of Beijing (2nd Ring Road)
Symbols: ↗ = exit, ⇆ = main interchange; → = only when heading for the airport; ← = only when heading for central Beijing; ↘ = exit only; ¥ = central toll gate
⇆ 1:(Interchange with 3rd Ring Road) 3rd Ring Road (Sanhuanlu)
⇆ 2: (↘ if ←) (Interchange with 4th Ring Road) 4th Ring Road (Sihuanlu)