SHENZHEN Mayor Xu Zongheng on Friday vowed to turn North Ring Road, one of Shenzhen’s trunk roads, into a picturesque road with more bus stops like Shennan Thoroughfare, at the annual session of the city’s legislature.

The east-west trunk road, which has been chronically plagued by noise, traffic jams and shortage of public transport, was among the top concerns of deputies to the annual session of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress (MPC), which closed yesterday.

Xu slammed the shortage of bus stops along North Ring Road, which includes a 500-meter long stretch with no stops.

Only 29 bus routes run on the road, although more than 1 million people live in housing estates along the road, according to the mayor.

According to Lin Qun, director of the urban traffic plan research center, a detailed plan to add greenery and bus stops to the road is under way.

More bridges will be built across the road to facilitate pedestrians.

Lin said his center is trying to work out the best way to reduce noise as much as possible without hindering smooth traffic.

He said it was not a good idea to renovate North Ring Road at present since several other major roads including Sungang Road and Shennan Thoroughfare are undergoing facelifts.

Container trucks have been banned from running on four major roads or road sections since last September, including the part from Longzhu Flyover to Shangbu Flyover on North Ring Road and the part from Shangbu Flyover to Hongling Flyover on Nigang Road.

(Li Jing)