Upper Albert Road/Glenealy flyover, built last year
at Wongneichong Gap Road and plans are being prepared to widen it to allow for two uphill lanes.
In the New Territories the roads leading from Lai Chi Kok westwards and through the Lion Rock Tunnel to Shatin have already been mention- ed. Castle Peak Road as far as Tsuen Wan was widened to four lanes two years ago, but this is al- ready becoming inadequate and an al- ternative six lane route at sea level to Kwai Chung is now under con- struction.
Consulting engineers have been retained to design and construct a six-
lane highway from Tsuen Wan to Castle Peak, using as far as possible the existing road, but problems of land acquisition as well as topography nay make necessary a completely new alignment over part of the route.
Air photographs were taken to- wards the end of 1964 along all the main roads in the New Territories. from which plans are being prepared so that major improvements can be drawn up and implemented as they become necessary. Probably the next sections to be tackled after the road to Castle Peak will be the Tai Po Road from Kowloon as far as Shatin
and then on as far as Tai Po itself. The two new towns being planned at Shatin and Castle Peak will have properly designed road networks with provision for grade-separated junc- tions to be built when the traffic de- mands it.
In Hong Kong the need for logical surveying and collection of informa- tion on which to base long term road planning has been foreseen and pro- vided. A separate Traffic Engineer- ing Division within the Public Works Department, responsible for planning of road projects, was formed in 1960. The basic information on which future road systems will be planned is now being collected by the Passen- ger Transport Survey Unit. This survey is being undertaken as a joint venture by the British Road Research Laboratory and the Traffic Engineer- ing Division of the Civil Engineering Office. The unit will remain in be- ing in order to continue the work and keep the records up-to-date.
It has long been recognised that there is a need for a mass transit system that will carry larger numbers of passengers than our present buses and trams using the public roads and the single line Kowloon Canton Rail- way can deal with effectively. Many proposals have been put forward over the past years including monorails of various kinds and underground rail- ways either along road lines or in tunnels in the harbour.
An eminent firm of consultants. which has completed similar surveys in other cities, has now been commis- sioned to prepare a mass transport survey and make recommendations as to what form the new system should take.
A view taken last month of the Harcourt Road flyover under construction
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Far East Architect & Builder November, 1965
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