The Board concluded that the final assessment of the need for a new airport rested heavily on the forecasts of passengers, cargo and aircraft movements and that such forecasts should be reviewed at least once a year. But, in the meantime, because of the long lead time for the construction of a new airport (7-10 years), the Board strongly recommended that the first phase of detailed engineering investigations of the Chek Lap Kok site be provided with as soon as possible.
Consequences of an airport at Chek Lap Kok on road traffic
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To gauge the effects on traffic in the West Kowloon Corridor should a replacement airport be built at Chek Lap Kok, the Government used the Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS),
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The modifications to the CTS also took into account the traffic implications of a bridge to Lantau and a population there of about 210,000 by 1991, and were completed in August 1977. The conclusion recched was that the road system could probably be improved (and augmented by, for example, fast ferry services) to cater for the traffic demands generated by the development of north Lantau, including an airport. In particular, the number of private trips to Lantau would be significant and would contribute to increases of 20% daily and of about 7% in the peak hours over the traffic figures predicted for the West Kowloon Corridor in the original CTS. The lesser effect in the peak hours from 7 a. m. to 9 a. m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p. m. was due, to a certain extent, to the fact that the maximum travel condition associated with an airport at Chek Lap Kok would be in the early afternoon.
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Although the implications were less severe than might have been expected, the predicted traffic flows by 1991 would reach the capacity of a number of roads and intersections, particularly those located in the corridors between Kwai Chung and Kowloon and the West Kowloon Corridor itself. Further investigations would be necessary to find solutions to the problems raised in the CTS re-run.
C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL 機密
C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL # *
XCC(78)29
Development of North Lantau
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