CCTV News:National Highway 228 from Dandong, Liaoning to Dongxing, Guangxi is the National Highway Network Planning (2013 — One of the 47 north-south vertical lines identified in 2030 runs through dozens of cities in ten provinces. However, recently, some people reported that this national road was blocked by a 3-meter height limit door in Panjin City, Liaoning Province. The height limit of 3 meters means that all large trucks will be impassable. Why is there a height limit gate on the national highway? Our reporter went to the local area to investigate.
Go from Jinzhou, Liaoning Province to Panjin along National Highway 228, pass the Dalinghe Bridge with a total length of more than 2,800 meters, turn left at the bridge head, and a door with a height limit of 3 meters crosses the road. The big trucks passing through here have to make a detour in advance.
The reporter consulted the transportation departments of Panjin and Jinzhou. In fact, there are signposts for height limit doors in both places, but the signposts are about 30 kilometers away from the height limit doors.
The height limit of 3 meters does not hinder ordinary vehicles, but the height of large trucks is generally 3 to 4 meters, which means that all large vehicles must bypass here. The reporter followed the big truck that needed to send the blood from the car to Jinzhou before 10 o’clock that night, and it took more than an hour to detour. Plus the delivery time on the Jingha Expressway, this big truck walked for two and a half hours because of this height limit door.
The 5 km section of the national highway is located in the buffer zone of the national nature reserve.
In 2019, the Ministry of Transport emphasized in the special action to clean up the height and width limit points that it is not allowed to "set up height and width limit facilities on national highways and provincial highways without legal and administrative regulations". In the interview, the reporter learned that the sudden appearance of this 3-meter height limit gate on National Highway 228 is related to the fact that this national highway is located in the local Liaohekou National Nature Reserve.
When the National Highway 228 runs from the height limit gate to Panjin, it enters the Liaohekou National Nature Reserve. The total length of the National Highway in the reserve is 37.7 kilometers, of which about 5.4 kilometers pass through the buffer zone of the reserve.
Hou Jun, deputy director of Panjin Forestry and Wetland Protection Administration: "According to the Regulations on Nature Reserves, generally speaking, except for scientific research, no one can enter the buffer zone."
The reporter learned that this road was built in 1971; In 1988, Liaohekou National Nature Reserve was established; In 1994, the Regulations of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Nature Reserve was promulgated. In other words, there were no relevant regulations when building this section of road; However, after the entry into force of the Regulations on Nature Reserves, vehicles that are not performing scientific research tasks should not enter the buffer zone, otherwise it will violate the Regulations on Nature Reserves.
Hou Jun, deputy director of Panjin Forestry and Wetland Protection Administration, said: "The roads are particularly narrow, and it is very difficult for large trucks to meet each other. If there is a traffic accident, especially if dangerous chemicals vehicles are leaked, it will have a great impact on the biodiversity of the reserve, including key protected animals, such as red-crowned cranes and black-billed gulls."
However, when the site of National Highway 228 was selected in 2015, the local government declared this road passing through Liaohekou National Nature Reserve as a recommended route. Subsequently, this section of the road was incorporated into National Highway 228.
Without EIA procedures, a national highway violates two regulations.
Then, knowing that it violated the Regulations of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Nature Reserve, how did this road get into the national highway through the EIA procedure? Continue to look at the reporter’s investigation.
During the reporter’s investigation, Panjin Municipal Transportation Bureau, Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau and Municipal Forestry and Wetland Protection Administration jointly provided a "Description of the Situation" for this matter, saying: In 2015, when the local site was selected for National Highway 228, there was no other better choice, so this road through the reserve was chosen. The relevant departments told reporters that they could not provide the EIA procedures for this section of the road.
In fact, as early as 2018, in view of the problems existing in this road, Panjin City issued a rectification plan, which promised: "Before the end of 2018, the 5.4-kilometer section of the buffer zone will be restricted first, and large trucks and hazardous chemicals vehicles will be prohibited from passing." This is the 3-meter height limit gate on this national road. However, this practice violates relevant laws and regulations.
At the same time, it is mentioned in the "Description of the Situation" jointly provided by three relevant departments in Panjin City that "at present, the transportation department has begun to promote the relevant work of adjusting the route of National Highway 228." It is planned to come up with an adjustment plan in the near future and report it. After examination and approval, the 228 national highway line will be changed to fundamentally solve this problem. However, there is no clear timetable yet.
Yao Yuan, deputy director of Panjin Transportation Service Center, said: "It is definitely necessary to avoid protected areas in the future and finally achieve long-term stability of highways. Environmental protection is the red line, and safety and smoothness are also the lifeline of our highways."