CONFIDENTIAL & B
- 2
Substantive Points
Man Kam To
2.
Mr. Zhen noted that some 3,500 trucks were authorised use the existing bridge at Man Kam To (MKT). The bridge was a bottle-neck with delays in the region of 2 hours or longer at peak periods. 40% of the vehicles had long journeys to make beyond Shenzhen to other parts of Guangdong and to Fujian. More- over, the redevelopment of the railway stations at Lo Wu and Shenzhen would increase congestion there to the extent that a diversion of traffic from the railway to MKT would be desirable. For these reasons, Mr. Zhen hoped that a second bridge at MKT could be built soon, with construction work beginning at the end of this year.
3.
Mr. Suen explained why the electrification project and redevelopment of Lo Wu station should not in fact inconvenience either passenger or freight traffic on the railway. Effective interim arrangements would be made to minimise congestion.
4.
Mr. Mason echoed this caution, stressing that the existing congestion on Hong Kong's internal road network meant that we should avoid any major diversion of rail traffic on to the roads. Through more efficient traffic arrangement at MKT we should be able to achieve greater use of the existing bridge and its facilities.
5.
Mr. Mc Laren said that the target date for the completion of the second bridge at MKT was towards the end of next year (Mr. MacPherson and Mr. Chen confirmed that agreement had been reached on the alignment of the bridge, and subject to minor details, its design). However, Mr. McLaren stressed that the exact date for completion remained difficult to fix. The Hong Kong side would nevertheless aim to accelerate its construction as far as possible and in the meantime continue to iron-out the congestion at peak periods to maximise use of the existing bridge.
Sha Tau Kok
6.
Mr. Zhen emphasised the importance Shenzhen attached to the construction of a new crossing point at Sha Tau Kok (STK). A nuclear power station was likely to be built only 70km away in Da Ya Wan, and many of its personnel would live in the eastern part of Shenzhen and near Yantian. Moreover, 20,000 grave plots at a cemetery east of Da Mei Sha had already been sold to Hong Kong families and a further 40,000 would be made available. Some visitors to the beach resorts at Da and Xiao Meisha would also aim to travel by road via STK. All of these developments made it important for a start on the construction of a STK crossing point in the second half of this year so that it could be ready for use at the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
1
A