NEW TOWNS
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Improvements are also being carried out on roads, the Luen Wo Market and at the On Lok Tsuen industrial area.
Yuen Long, a lively prosperous town of about 37,000 people in the north-western region of the New Territories, is the market centre for the produce of local villages, farmlands and fishponds. In the next 10 to 15 years, the population will grow to approximately 95,000. By that time all the building land currently reserved for public and private housing and commercial premises will have been developed and occupied. The main objectives of the Yuen Long development programme are to supply public housing for 11,000 people; to provide more sites for private development; to develop open spaces with sufficient land reserved for light industry; and to set aside land for government buildings and community services.
One-fifth of Yuen Long's future population is expected to find work in labour- intensive light industries. In addition, Yuen Long's new industrial estate sited at Wan Chau, about three-quarters of a kilometre north of the town centre, will provide jobs for skilled workers.
Forging the Links
The urban development of the New Territories hinges on a modern transport network linking the new towns, market towns and rural townships with Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. New motorways, modernisation of the Kowloon-Canton Railway and the Tsuen Wan extension of the Mass Transit Railway are being implemented to provide for the efficient transportation of people, goods and services.
The transport system developing in the New Territories is connected to the arterial road system in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. Through comprehensive planning, the whole of Hong Kong is being joined by a series of high-capacity motorways which are reducing travelling time and improving access.
During 1978, the traffic flow to Sha Tin and Tai Po was assisted by the opening of the second Lion Rock Tunnel, which is one of the main approaches to the New Territories from Kowloon. The first stage of the Tuen Mun Road, Hong Kong's first high-capacity limited-access rural highway linking Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan, was opened in May. A 17-kilometre three-lane carriageway, the highway has helped to eliminate the bumper-to-bumper crawl by cars and lorries along Castle Peak Road. Work on the second stage comprising another three lanes is now proceeding. The Tsuen Wan By-pass is being built and will be in use by 1982, providing a direct link between Kwai Chung Road and Tuen Mun Road. This by-pass will span a reclamation area to the south of Tsuen Wan New Town and connect with the bridge to Tsing Yi Island and with Castle Peak Road at the end of the town. Sha Tin and Tai Po are also to be connected by a new major highway which will eventually extend to Yuen Long.
Railways are to play an increasingly important part in public transport, linking the expanding urban centres of the New Territories with Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and providing fast and dependable services. Double-tracking of the Kowloon- Canton Railway is proceeding, and the line will be electrified by mid-1981 enabling increased frequencies and quicker journeys. Work on the Tsuen Wan extension of the Mass Transit Railway is under way and the underground will be running by 1982;
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