COMMUNICATIONS
Increasing industrial expansion in the New Territories has necessitated considerable improvements in the main circular road. The planning of improvements to road crossings and junctions has received much attention and, in addition to structural improvements and the construction of roundabouts and traffic islands, further vehicle-actuated traffic lights have been ordered.
The new bridge at Tai Wai, started last year, was completed and towards the end of the year work was begun on a new bridge at Tsun Wan.
There is one Government Quarry at Hok Un in Kowloon and one at North Point on Hong Kong Island and together they produced about 214,000 tons of stone and about 50,000 tons of bituminous macadam in 1954. The whole output of the two quarries was used for buildings, roads and other construction works carried out by the Public Works Department. The quarry at North Point is almost worked out and, owing to industrial and residential development in the neigh- bourhood, has become a source of public complaint. It has therefore been decided that a new quarry should be opened at Mount Butler on a site some distance away from developed areas. Work on the construction of the approach road and the site formation was well advanced at the end of the year and it is anticipated that the new quarry will be in full production by 1956. The quarry at North Point will then be closed down.
Many improvements to street lighting were made and 900 new lamps were installed during the year bringing the total number of street lights in use to about 4,500.
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