Sichuan to Fix Excessive Highway Speed Limit Zones in 2026

Sichuan Province has pledged to tackle a persistent driver frustration: excessive speed limit changes on its highways, where limits as low as 80 km/h have sparked a public debate over whether such roads can still be called “high-speed.” Following a citizen complaint on the Wenzheng Sichuan online governance platform, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Transportation confirmed it will prioritize reducing the number of speed limit zones and improving limit stability in 2026, according to The Paper.

The Core Complaint

A citizen posted on the Wenzheng Sichuan platform questioning why highways like the Jiuma and Lexi expressways—roads the citizen claimed have conditions suitable for 120 km/h—are artificially capped at 80 km/h. “If a highway is limited to 80 km/h, can it still be called high-speed?” the complaint read, also noting that even short tunnels of a few hundred meters are restricted to 80 km/h with solid lane markings prohibiting passing.

The Sichuan Transportation Department responded that speed limits are determined based on design speed, technical indicators, traffic flow characteristics, and accident history. Tunnel sections, which lack emergency lanes and present higher rescue difficulty in the event of an accident, are typically limited to design speed per national standards.

A Broader National Trend

Sichuan’s efforts are part of a wider movement across China to reform highway speed limits. Neighboring provinces have already made significant progress. By early 2021, Yunnan Province completed optimization of speed limits on 136 expressways, largely eliminating limits below 100 km/h and reducing tunnel-to-road differentials to just 10 km/h. Guizhou Province followed suit, completing a province-wide overhaul by July 2024 that raised limits on 99.2 percent of its expressway network, leaving no sections with 80 km/h limits for passenger cars, as reported by Chuanguan News.

Sichuan, however, has faced unique challenges. Despite similar terrain to its neighbors, the province’s speed limits have remained notably lower. On the S41 Suiyibi Expressway, for example, the Sichuan section is limited to 100 km/h on the mainline and 80 km/h on bridges, while the Yunnan section allows 110 km/h on the mainline and 100 km/h in tunnels.

Why Sichuan’s Limits Are Lower

The Transportation Department has cited several factors explaining the disparity. First, 84.5 percent of Sichuan’s expressway network already has limits above 100 km/h—a baseline that was higher than Yunnan and Guizhou before their recent upgrades. Second, Sichuan’s terrain is generally more challenging, with more tunnels in mountainous and high-altitude areas. Third, 18.1 percent of the province’s expressways have been in service for over 20 years, with lower design standards. Finally, Sichuan faces significantly higher traffic volumes, with daily averages exceeding 3 million vehicles and peaks above 4 million, compared to approximately 2.5 million in Yunnan and 2 million in Guizhou, according to the Sichuan Online report on the province’s optimization plan.

Progress and 2026 Priorities

Sichuan formally launched its province-wide expressway speed limit optimization in August 2024, with the Transportation Department, Highway Administration, and Traffic Police jointly issuing a notice and publishing technical guidelines the following month. As of early 2026, the province has completed adjustments on 19 highway sections, including the Wenma and Mianjiu expressways.

This year, the province will accelerate the work, with a particular focus on resolving what drivers call the “wave-style” speed problem—constant limit changes from 80 to 100 to 80 km/h as vehicles pass through successive tunnels. The department stated it will focus on reducing the number of speed limit change zones and improving limit stability.

Tunnel Lane Marking Reform

In a potentially significant development, the Transportation Department is studying the feasibility of painting dashed passable lane markings in tunnels under certain conditions. Currently, China’s Road Traffic Safety Law prohibits passing in tunnels, and all tunnel lane markings are solid lines. The department is planning pilot programs where conditions permit, which could improve traffic flow on mountainous expressways with frequent tunnel sections while maintaining safety.

National Regulations on the Horizon

The provincial efforts align with new national regulations approved by China’s Ministry of Transport in February 2026. The Implementation Plan for Mobile Phone Plus Cardless Convenient Passage on Expressways bans “cliff-edge” speed drops, requires buffer zones between limit changes, mandates advance notification of speed cameras, and allows mobile-phone-based toll payment. These regulations, rolling out from March 2026, will require Sichuan’s adjustments to align with national standards on limit differentials and transparency.

What to Watch For

As Sichuan accelerates its optimization work, key questions remain. How many additional highway sections will be adjusted in 2026 beyond the 19 already completed? Will the province eventually eliminate all 80 km/h limits on expressways as Guizhou has done? And what specific criteria will determine which tunnels qualify for the dashed lane marking pilot program? For now, the province’s commitment signals a meaningful step toward balancing safety with the driver experience on some of China’s most challenging roadways.