In an open letter to Shenzhen residents, three government departments have apologized for failing to relieve traffic jams which have plagued areas near the Meilin Checkpoint for years.

In the letter published in Chinese-language newspapers Thursday, the planning, communication and traffic police bureaus took the unusual step of saying sorry and listed measures to improve traffic conditions in the area as well as asking the public for suggestions.

Traffic congestion began to occur near the checkpoint in 2003, and deteriorated last year. On "black Mondays" in early March last year, tens of thousands of residents were stranded north of the checkpoint for hours because of a traffic standstill, leading to a public uproar.

In the open letter, the bureaus blamed poor planning and infrastructure, slow construction of new facilities and a lack of coordination between government departments.

The poorly designed Minle Flyover north of the checkpoint was blamed for many of the jams as motorists both leaving and heading for the special economic zone have to make a U-turn at the flyover, taking cars up to 25 minutes to pass the flyover.

The government planned to rebuild the flyover but the proposal met with strong opposition from residents of the Yingshui Villas housing estate, who feared the new flyover would cause more noise and air pollution.

In the letter, the bureaus said they would improve the design of the new flyover and add new facilities for pedestrians, in a bid to win residents' support.

The increase in new cars has also contributed to the chronic traffic jams in the area. According to official figures, about 80,000 vehicles passed the checkpoint each day in 2003. The number surged to 260,000 in November last year.

The government said it will build new highways, including Fulong Road, Xinqu Thoroughfare, Jinlong Road, and extensions to Banxuegang Thoroughfare and Yulong Road, to provide new links between Longhua and the special economic zone. New roads are expected to divert traffic from the checkpoint.

(Shenzhen Daily January 12, 2007)