Jingshan, Chushui, and village roads are “drunk”. Recently, the scenery along the Lvtang Road in Zhulin Town, Qichun County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, which was rated as the “Top Ten Most Beautiful Rural Roads in China” in 2021, is pleasant. The black two-lane asphalt pavement, yellow-white markings, various vehicles passing by, clean and practical bus shelters, together with the golden ginkgo leaves, tourists who ride cards, and villagers who sell local specialties, constitute a beautiful picture of rural happiness with smooth roads, folk music, and beautiful tourists.
In recent years, the Hubei Provincial Department of Transportation has adhered to the concept of “building a road, creating a landscape, developing an industry, and making people rich”, and made every effort to build “four good rural roads”. The “four good rural roads”, “from narrow to wide, from open to smooth, from line to network, and from safety to beauty”, support the happy life of the urban and rural people in Jingchu. Up to now, the total mileage of rural roads in Hubei Province has exceeded 260000 kilometers, and three outstanding units in the construction of “four good rural roads” have been successfully established, 16 national demonstration counties, 39 provincial demonstration counties, and 150 provincial demonstration towns. Two counties have been awarded the “National Demonstration County of Urban and Rural Transport Integration”.
A tourist road gathers thousands of homestays
“Three cliffs surround the Loushui River, and a cable connects the outside world.” This is the “wall-mounted village” on the cliff – a true portrayal of the past of Yushan Village, Tielu Bai Township, Hefeng County. Before 2017, villagers here only relied on a cableway hanging between the canyons to get out of the mountain. Now, the spacious concrete road leads directly to the villagers’ door, and the children go to school by car.
“The road has been repaired, and the cliff village has undergone earth-shaking changes.” Zhang Jing, a young Bai nationality who returned to his hometown to start a business, said, “When buses and logistics vehicles go into the village, wild honey and selenium-rich potatoes can be turned into money. They can be delivered to the city on the same day. Many villagers and I have bought cars.”
The beauty of Murakami lies in the appearance image and the beauty lies in the road environment. After the villages are connected with buses and groups are connected with highways, the Hubei Provincial Department of Transportation has continued to promote the construction of “four good rural roads” to improve quality and efficiency. Many villages have not only built transportation stations with functions of rest and sightseeing, shopping and toilet, waiting for express delivery, but also built observation platforms, local specialty trading platforms, etc. on the roadside of some villages, which endow the village roads with many functions outside the passage, and realized the transformation from “building one” to “beautiful one”, From “beauty everywhere” to “beauty everywhere”.
Among them, the Transportation Bureau of Jianshi County raised funds in various ways to upgrade the tourist roads from Huaping Town, Village Square Village, Xiaoxi Lake, Huanghe Bridge Scenic Spot, Huaping Town to Lijiaping, and so on. More than 1000 homestays were opened in the market town with only more than 10000 local people, and the number of tourists increased to more than 40000 this year. The 22.7km Hengshan tourist highway in Huangmei County has linked many tourist attractions and industrial bases into a chain. The rural economy has been strongly supported and greatly stimulated the new vitality of rural revitalization.
Special actions to ensure smooth roads and safety
Rural roads should not only be smooth, but also be safe. Hubei Provincial Department of Transportation raised funds from various sources, implemented the “three-year action to eliminate hazards” of the safety and life protection project and rural highway bridges, and implemented the upgrading and transformation of township comprehensive transportation service stations, village-level multi-functional logistics service points and rural bus shelters, to continuously meet the needs of villagers for travel, online shopping and local specialty sales.
The smooth circulation of village roads has greatly improved the villagers’ sense of happiness and gain. In particular, since the joint creation of a beautiful environment and a happy life in Hubei Province, many villagers across the province have discussed and conspired for the construction of village roads, voluntarily dismantled illegal buildings, actively donated funds and materials, and volunteered to work. They have built a number of rural roads that villagers had hoped for in the past, were willing to subsidize transportation, and were helped by the government, but suffered from insufficient supporting funds, difficult demolition, and high compensation requirements, and further improved the rural road network structure, Helping rural revitalization.
The Department of Transportation of Hubei Province has also guided all localities to carry out the road director system and information-based supervision, and built a road maintenance and road protection pattern of “county road administrators, township supervisors, and village road guards”. The rural road management is gradually changing from the leading role of the transportation department to the pattern of “party committee leadership, government leadership, industry guidance, department linkage, social participation, and people benefit”, and constantly strengthening the development momentum of “four good rural roads”.
Maximize the comprehensive effect of village roads
The village road is built, the connection is the people’s heart, the access is the popularity and wealth, and the cohesion is confidence and hope. Today, the “Four Good Rural Roads” has become one of the livelihood projects with the most sense of gain and the strongest sense of happiness for Jingchu people.
“It is free to apply for old people’s cards above 60 years old. Everyone said that it is good!” On October 21, Fu Guodong, a 62-year-old villager from Caidun Village, Qingshan Town, Chongyang County, took a bus to the county town to visit relatives at home for free. On November 2, 442 organic villages in Qianjiang City were all connected with new energy pure electric buses, entering a new era of “all-area bus integration”.
In Longba Town, Zhuxi County, in the hinterland of Qinba Mountains, refrigerated trucks with the eye-catching logo of “Dongfenghong Fleet” of Shiyan Hengyun Logistics will count and load the weighed baskets of green vegetables. In a few hours, vegetables will appear on the table of citizens in Shiyan City.
These are only thumbnails of Hubei Transportation’s efforts to promote the high-quality development of rural roads. In recent years, Hubei Transportation has adhered to the organic combination of “four good rural roads” with poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, and started the integration mode of “party building+highway+assistance+industry+tourism+logistics e-commerce+culture”, to maximize the comprehensive effect of village roads, and to reduce the travel costs of the masses by creating a “nationwide public transport demonstration county”.
Rural revitalization requires transportation first. The successive extensions and leaps of the “Four Good Rural Roads” demonstration in Hubei have enriched the villagers’ happy life, accelerated the flow of urban and rural resources, built the foundation of common prosperity, and provided transportation infrastructure guarantee for rural revitalization.