COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
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of Lion Rock Tunnel were being prepared to serve Sha Tin New Town development and the new racecourse. The second stage of Ma On Shan Road, from Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai to Nai Chung, and the provision of a climbing lane on Tai Po Road near the Chinese University were also completed.
Traffic management techniques continued to be applied to make the best use of the existing road network. A bus priority scheme to improve public transport in the Mid-Levels was implemented. Schemes for clearways and other restrictions on kerbside activities were imposed on many main traffic routes. Installation of 13.7 miles of cables started as a first step forward towards a computerised area traffic control system for western Kowloon. Traffic light signal installation continued and a total of 271 sets were operative by the end of the year. The street lighting system was also expanded with the installation of a total of 1,316 new lamps during the year.
Two reports on transport undertaken by consulting engineers were completed, one on the transport requirements for the New Territories by 1983, which included preliminary designs for more than 25 miles of roads, and another on traffic generation in the Peak area to relate permissible plot rations for building redevelopment with the capacity of the road network serving the area. Work on the Hong Kong Com- prehensive Transport Study was in progress. Other surveys on the level of service provided by public transport vehicles, such as taxis and vehicular ferries, were also conducted.
A multi-disciplined traffic management group was set up to plan, co-ordinate and implement traffic management schemes to facilitate the construction of the initial system of the mass transit railway. Strategic plans for traffic diversions for the first four stages of the construction of the railway both in Kowloon and Hong Kong were prepared and formally approved. Detailed design and planning for the implemen- tation of these measures was well in hand for both Kowloon and Hong Kong. In Kowloon, where construction work is expected to begin first, the initial phases of these diversions were being implemented.
Road Tunnels
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Two road tunnels are at present in operation-one through Sz Tsz Shan (Lion Rock) and the other across the harbour. Three more are being built or actively planned -one additional to Lion Rock, another under the airport runway, and a third linking Aberdeen and Happy Valley.
The government-managed Lion Rock Tunnel, opened in November 1967, provides a faster route between Kowloon and the rural township of Sha Tin. In 1974, it was used by 4,723,315 vehicles and revenue from toll fees-50 cents for small vehicles and $1 for large vehicles—totalled $2,800,400. Work on the second Lion Rock Tunnel, which will provide two more traffic lanes, is making good progress and is expected to be completed in 1977.
The cross-harbour tunnel, a $320 million project operated by the Cross-Harbour Tunnel Company in which the government has a 25 per cent interest, was opened in