Relief on way for all you Songjiang-Chongming commuters

A planned metro line -- No. 9 -- will stretch from Songjiang District, in western Shanghai, to Chongming Island, traveling through Xujiahui, and Waigaoqiao in Pudong, according to Shanghai Daily. It will travel through an 8.9 km tunnel between Pudong to Changxing Island, and then, perhaps, over a 10.3 km bridge from Changxing to Chongming. All of this is scheduled to be completed by -- you guessed it -- 2010. The tunnel and bridge, both under construction, are already designed to handle automobile trraffic. The plan, which also includes a 6.3 km elevated highway on Changxing Island, has a price tag of $1.56 billion -- and that's without factoring in all the subway stuff. Shanghaiist just suffered through a week of excruciating bus rides out to godforsaken Songjiang District for the recent pro golf tournament, so we're all for connecting it to the city via subway. Currently, the only way to access Chongming Island is on a ferry. The island is supposed to become home to the world's first eco-city -- not sure how all this added traffic will work with that.

In other transportation news, the city's first rush-hour-bus-only lanes went operational on Tuesday.

Photo from CRIENGLISH.