China's first road tunnel beneath the Yangtze River was open to traffic on Sunday in central China's Hubei Province.

The 3.63-km, bi-directional four-lane road tunnel started a three-month trial operation at about 10:00 AM in Wuhan City.

The tunnel cuts travel time to seven minutes from half an hour between the city's major areas -- Wuchang, where government offices and universities are based, and Hankou, the business center.

The tunnel will allow 50,000 vehicles to travel at 50 kilometers per hour each day. It can withstand flooding (300 year-flood plain) and an earthquake measuring up to six on the Richter scale, Yin said.

The 1.7-billion yuan (US$250 million) project began in November 2004 as one of the city's efforts to improve transportation infrastructure and relieve congested roads.

Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, is one of the largest cities in central China with a population of eight million. It is the center of five railway lines, six expressways and several highways. The city serves as the gateway to China's hinterlands and is nicknamed the "thoroughfare to nine provinces".

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2008)