Shanghai has an expansive grade-separated highway and expressway network consisting of 16 municipal express roads, 10 provincial-level expressways, and 8 national-level expressways. Three municipal expressways and four provincial-level expressways are also under construction.
Municipal express roads Most municipal express roads are found in the inner districts of Shanghai, including several elevated highways which run directly above surface-level roadways. In Chinese, these expressways are literally termed city high-speed roadways (), and their maximum speed is typically . These are still considered expressways or controlled-access highways because of the presence of ramps, grade-separated junctions, and the absence of traffic lights. Most of these expressways are elevated and run above a lower-speed roadway. The Inner Ring Road is a beltway, while the Middle Ring Road, is also a beltway.
Primary express roads These are primary express roads that form a major backbone of expressways within the city core. Of these four, the Inner Ring, North–South, and Yan'an Elevated Roads form a 申 (a Chinese abbreviation for Shanghai) shape. The Middle Ring forms a second orbital surrounding the Inner Ring Elevated Road, and is fully complete. The 申 shape was originally partial until the recent completion of the Pudong Avenue Ground Way.
English name Chinese characters name Termini Notes Inner Ring RoadAlso known as Inner Ring Elevated Road Ring road long. Crosses the Huangpu River using the Yangpu Bridge and Nanpu Bridge. Middle Ring Road Ring road long. Crosses the Huangpu River using the Jungong Road Tunnel and Shangzhong Road Tunnel. North–South Elevated Road (lit. South–North Elevated Road) Pujiang Town long. Yan'an Elevated Road Hongqiao International AirportThe Bund, Bund Tunnel, East Zhongshan No. 1 Road long.
Auxiliary express roads These are other express roads that serve as part of the municipal expressway network. Of these, six belong to the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub, a network of municipal expressways serving Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. English name Chinese characters name Termini Notes Beidi Elevated Road Jiamin Elevated RoadMiddle Ring Road long. Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Beiheng PassagewayMiddle Ring Road & Beidi Elevated Road junction Haining Road & North Zhejiang RoadEastern underground section under construction, to be extended to Yangpu District Bund Tunnel Speed limit of . Dujiaqu Elevated Road Middle Ring Road, Disney ShanghaiFormerly known as Shenjiang Elevated Road.Hongdi Elevated Road Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Hongmei Elevated Road Middle Ring Road at West Shangzhong RoadSouth Hongmei Road Tunnel long. Hongyu Elevated Road Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Huaxia Elevated Road Middle Ring Road at Shenjiang RoadS1 Yingbin Expressway near Pudong International Airport long. Humin Elevated Road Inner Ring Road long. Husong Elevated Road In planning. Jiamin Elevated Road , Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Jianhong Elevated Road Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Luoshan Elevated Road Inner Ring Road at Luoshan Road/Longyang Road/Longdong Avenue, Songze Elevated Road Jiamin Elevated Road Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Wuzhou Avenue Xiangyin Road Tunnel long. Yixian Elevated Road Inner Ring Road long. Caobao Elevated Road Part of the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub. Under planning. Longdong Elevated Road Inner Ring Road at Luoshan Road/Longyang Road/Longdong Avenue,
Restrictions on driving In Shanghai, there are restrictions on foreign license plates, temporary license plates, drivers with probationary licenses, and taxis not carrying passengers to drive on many municipal elevated roads. This ban is enforced by the police, and affects every day except Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays. They came into effect on November 2020.
The affected expressways include:
1. Municipal freeways, from 7:00 to 20:00 daily Yan'an Elevated Road (entire route) North-South Elevated Road (400m section south of Huma Road and Luheng Road, including Lupu Bridge) Yixian Elevated Road (entire route) Shanghai-Minhang Elevated Road (entire route) Middle Ring Road (entire route) Huaxia Elevated Road (entire route) Luoshan Elevated (entire route) Dujia Elevated Road (from Middle Ring Road to Xiupu Road) Inner Ring Elevated Road (including Nanpu Bridge, except the section from the inner ring Zhongshan North 2nd Road entrance to the Jinxiu Road exit and the outer ring Jinxiu Road entrance to the Huangxing Road exit) Longdong Elevated Road (from Luoshan Road Interchange to S20 Outer Ring Expressway) Hongmei Elevated Road (from Middle Ring Road to S20 Outer Ring Expressway) Beidi Road Tunnel Yan'an East Tunnel Beiheng Passageway (from Beihong Interchange to Tianmu Interchange and the grounding point at Wen'an Road).
2. Inner Ring, 7:00 to 9:00 and 17:00 to 19:00 Furthermore, there is a prohibition affecting the same categories, within any point inside the Inner Ring Elevated Road and the roads it is with.
Provincial expressways Designations for provincial-level and federal-level expressways in Shanghai had the letter prefix A before the number of the expressway. Starting at the Yingbin Expressway, which was designated the number 1, the numbers increased clockwise around the city. For ring expressways, the designations A20, A30, A40, etc., were used. For expressways connecting to other provinces which already had national designations (beginning with the letter G), designations with the letter A were attached.
In August 2009, Shanghai replaced its system of naming expressways with the prefix A with the letter prefix S, in order to conform to the standard designations for provincial-level highways within China. The S means Shengdao, or provincial-level roads. The letter prefix A was abolished.
Signpost Designation Former designation English name Chinese characters name Termini Notes S1 A1 Yingbin Expressway in Pudong New Area at Pudong International Airport long. S2 A2 Shanghai–Luchaogang Expressway in Pudong New AreaYangshan Port, Zhoushan, Zhejiang long including the Donghai Bridge. S3 A3 Shanghai–Fengxian Expressway Zhoudeng Highway Extension to Fengxian District has been finished recently. S4 A4 Shanghai–Jinshan Expressway / Humin Elevated Road in Minhang District in Jinshan District S5 A12 Shanghai–Jiading Expressway Middle Ring RoadYecheng Road / South Bo'le Road in Jiading District long. S6 A17 Shanghai–Nanxiang Expressway in Jiading District in Baoshan District long. S7 A13 Shanghai–Chongming Expressway In planning, partly under construction. S12 Never assigned Chongming–Haimen Expressway In planning. S16 Never assigned Shanghai–Yixing Expressway In planning. S19 A6 Xinnong–Jinshanwei Expressway in Xinnong, Jinshan District in Jinshanwei, Jinshan District S20 A20 Outer Ring Expressway Ring road long. Crosses the Huangpu River twice, using the Xupu Bridge to the south and the Outer Ring Tunnel to the north. It is the third in a series of four ring roads around the city of Shanghai. S22 Never assigned Jiading–Anting Expressway In planning. S26 A16 Shanghai–Changzhou Expressway in Qingpu DistrictContinues as at the Jiangsu border S32 A15 Shanghai–Jiaxing–Huzhou Expressway at Pudong International AirportContinues as at the Zhejiang border S36 A7 Tinglin–Fengjing Expressway in Jinshan District in Jiashan County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, just outside Fengjing, Jinshan District
National expressways National highways and expressways in Shanghai both have the prefix G, an abbreviation for Guodao (), which literally means National roads. Both grade-separated, controlled-access expressways and normal at-grade highways both have the prefix G. Only the national-level expressways are mentioned here. National-highways which are at grade and not controlled-access are also found in Shanghai, and these include G204, G312, G318, and G320. Expressways also have green-coloured signs while their highway counterparts have red-coloured signs.
Designation Former Shanghai A designation English name Chinese characters name Termini in Shanghai Continues towards Notes A11 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway Middle Ring RoadJiangsu border Beijing G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway are concurrencies for their entire length in Shanghai. Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway Chengdu A4, A5 Shenyang–Haikou Expressway Jiangsu borderZhejiang border Shenyang (north)Haikou (south) A14 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway Jiangsu border Xi'an A9 Shanghai–Chongqing Expressway S20 Outer Ring Expressway and Yan'an Elevated RoadJiangsu border Chongqing A8 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway S20 Outer Ring Expressway, S4 Shanghai–Jinshan Expressway, and Humin Elevated RoadZhejiang border Kunming G60 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway and G92 Hangzhou Bay Ring Expressway are concurrencies from Dagang Interchange of G1503 Shanghai Ring Expressway to Zhejiang border. G92 Hangzhou Bay Ring Expressway G1503 Shanghai Ring ExpresswayZhejiang border Ningbo A30 Shanghai Ring Expressway Ring road almost entirely within Shanghai. Ring road Never assigned Shanghai–Wuhan Expressway Alternate road
Yangtze River fixed crossing Shanghai has one bridge-tunnel crossing spanning the Yangtze Delta to the north of the city. The G40 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway follows the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel from Pudong to Changxing Island, and then over the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge from Changxing to Chongming Island and finally via the Chongming–Qidong Yangtze River Bridge from Chongming to Qidong in Jiangsu Province on the north bank of the river. A second fixed crossing is planned to the west of this bridge, and will become part of the S7 Shanghai–Chongming Expressway.
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