SHENZHEN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Construction on the bridge section of a link between south China's Shenzhen and Zhongshan cities will start in September this year, the Guangdong provincial transportation group said.

Peripheral construction work will start by the end of April, the group said.

The bridge section of the link will be 17 kilometers long with eight lanes. The total length of the link will be 24 kilometers long and open to traffic in 2024. It will cut commuting time between the two cities from two hours to 30 minutes.

It will also include an around-7-km-long underwater tunnel and two artificial islands.

Upon completion, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan link will improve transportation in the area and be an important piece of infrastructure in the Greater Bay Area, which covers Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and nine cities in the province, including capital Guangzhou as well as Shenzhen.