The reconstruction and extension project of the Jinan-Qingdao highway in East China's Shandong province is scheduled to start construction in December 2015 with a planned completion date in June 2019.

The province is to ask its residents to express their opinion on the project on May 24.

The new eight-lane highway extension will be 309 kilometer-long with a designed speed of 120 km/h. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around 2.8 billion yuan (US$452 million).

The highway will occupy a total area of 2,946 hectares and go through 55 towns and sub-districts, six of which are in Qingdao.