With the worsening global energy crisis and environmental issues, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting low-carbon development have become international consensus. Carbon emissions in transportation are a hot topic in academia and industry. In a highway project's life cycle, the construction phase has the highest carbon emissions, covering material production, machinery operation, and transportation. Thus, zero-carbon construction of highway engineering parks is crucial for transportation carbon neutrality. Currently, near-zero carbon construction of highway engineering parks is in the exploratory stage, with its complexity and specificity under-researched. Existing literature lacks systematic organization of related research, with most near-zero carbon construction cases focusing on industrial parks. It's urgent to apply the success of near-zero-carbon industrial parks to highway engineering parks and make targeted improvements for net-zero CO2 emissions. This paper systematically combs the relevant literature from 2009 to 2024 and analyzes the keywords and the evolution of research themes by Citespace. The main paths for industrial parks to achieve zero carbon are summarized. The definition, characteristics and the experiences of highway engineering parks are explored. The results of the study provide theoretical references and practical guidance for future near-zero-carbon construction of highway engineering parks, as well as directions for further exploration of the field by academia and industry.