Construction of Tibet's first expressway, a four-lane road linking Lhasa's city proper and Gongkar Airport, has entered its final stage and will open in six months as expected.

About 85 percent of the 38-km expressway has been completed, and construction workers are now working on a 389-meter tunnel in the craggy mountains near Gongkar Airport, said Li Dingkun, leader of the construction team.

He said the tunnel would be completed by March, in time for the expressway to open in May as scheduled.

The Lhasa-Gongkar Expressway runs along the southern bank of the Lhasa River and will have a maximum speed limit of 80 km per hour.

The 1.55 billion yuan (US$232.7 million) project will ease traffic pressure along the Lhasa section of the No. 318 national highway that sees frequent flooding and traffic jams.