Tianshannet - Xinjiang Daily news (Reporter: Lu Fengbao): On June 9, 2021, Xinjiang's first desert expressway, the Altay-Urumqi Expressway, namely the S21 Expressway, has entered the asphalt paving stage and is scheduled to be completed within this year. Driving time from Urumqi to Altay is expected to reduce to about four hours when it is open to traffic.

"After many debugging and tests, we can now carry out a large area asphalt paving." said Ran Yongpeng, manager of the fourth contract section of the Altay-Urumqi Expressway project. The contract section is located in the hinterland of the desert and is expected to complete the asphalt paving work by the end of August, 2021.

Ran Yongpeng said that the temperature difference between different sections of the expressway is large, especially in the desert section, thus a high asphalt standard is required for the whole line. The contract section introduces "customized" asphalt to select asphalt with different characteristics in different regional environments. The asphalt paving will improve the road durability, service life and improve the comfort of drivers and passengers.

The Altay-Urumqi Expressway passes through Beitun City, Fuhai County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Wujiaqu City, ending into Urumqi, with a total length of 342.538 km. The pathway is almost a straight line. The travel from Urumqi to Altay will no longer detour, it is 258 km shorter than taking the G217 Expressway and 193 km shorter than taking the G216 Expressway, which will become a convenient and fast expressway connecting Urumqi and Altay prefecture.