The zonal (cluster) valley type of cities is widely distributed in the mountainous and hilly areas in China. This kind of city has the long and narrow space, scarce land resources and prominent axial road traffic contradictions. For the discussion of the design essentials of the traffic artery in this kind of city, taking Lizhong Express Channel in Lvliang City as an example, from the perspective of solving the traffic problems and intensive use of land resources, and meanwhile to balance the service traffic demand, its design scheme is studied in detail. The study result can provide the reference for the similar projects.