230
COMMUNICATIONS
This is necessary because unsealed roads are vulnerable to severe damage from the tropical rainstorms of the summer and also because of the heavy traffic attracted even to new roads in remote parts of the Colony. Exceptionally heavy rainstorms in May and typhoon 'Mary' in June caused widespread damage. Tin Hau Temple Road, recently completed and giving access to many building sites overlooking the eastern harbour, was entirely washed away at one point; there was a serious landslide in the Peak residential district at Plantation Road, and a bridge on the Kam Tin Road in the New Territories also suffered badly. These are only a few examples, and many other landslides and washouts, large and small, occurred. Even traffic signs were damaged. Although roads were quickly re-opened to traffic, complete repair of the damage requires many more months; in some cases work will last almost up to next rainy season.
Government operates two quarries which produce crushed stones for all branches of the Public Works Department and asphalts and bitumen-coated macadams for use on the roads. Experiments continue to find the road surfacing materials best suited to local conditions; a modern mixing plant installed at Hok Yuen Quarry has been very successful, and a new machine for laying the material so produced has given a higher standard of carriageway surface finish. The improvement and extension of street lighting was continued and 940 new street lights were installed.
MULTI-STOREY CAR PARKS
There are two multi-storey car parks in the centre of Victoria, controlled by the Urban Council; they are capable of holding 622 cars. The ordinary charge for parking is 50 cents for 24 hours, but there are special cheap rates in the evenings and at week-ends, and monthly passes may be bought for $40.
The construction of the new City Hall on the Central Reclama- tion and of a large hotel on the northern part of Murray Parade Ground has greatly reduced the number of free motor parking spaces in the Central District, and this has been reflected in the increased use of the City Hall and Star Ferry Car Parks which are normally full early in the day. An average of 27,047 cars
Page 285Page 286