A PLAN to dismantle all tollgates, except those for expressways, has been approved by the municipal government.　

　　It is a move that will appease many motorists who complain that too many tollgates make driving in Shenzhen too expensive and time-consuming.

　　However, the 16 expressway tollgates will remain and nine new tollgates will be built on the borders with Huizhou and Dongguan cities, charging vehicles leaving Shenzhen.

　　After the demolition of the 12 tollgates in Shenzhen, all vehicles using ordinary highways will no longer have to pay road tolls or suffer the inconvenience of toll-gate traffic jams.

　　These have been a source of complaints by investors and have triggered uproars during annual meetings of the city's lawmakers and advisors over the past two years.

　　The government promised not to create new charges on road use and to set up a special fund to repay the loans that had financed roads and tunnels. The fund will also pay for future road and tunnel projects.

　　The planned demolition list includes the Wutong Hill Tunnel that connects Luohu with Shatoujiao, the Henggang Toll Gate on National Highway No. 205 and the Songgang Toll Gate on National Highway No. 107. These have all topped motorists' hate list.

　　The Shenzhen move is part of a provincial plan to dismantle 50 tollgates in Guangdong this year. Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhongshan cities have been selected to trial the provincial road toll reform aimed at speeding up traffic and relieving financial burdens on car owners.

　　Dongguan has agreed to Shenzhen's plan to build combined tollgates at their borders, which will collect fees on vehicles leaving the two cities.