TRANSPORT
opening of the first bridge of the Lok Ma Chau crossing in December 1989 which provides a direct link into the New Territories Circular Road. The second bridge of the crossing will open in 1991. This will increase the processing capacity at the three border crossing points to about 28 000 vehicles per day.
The Kowloon-Canton Railway also plays an important role in the freight and passenger traffic between Hong Kong and China. Some 1.7 million tonnes of freight (1988: 1.7 million tonnes) and two million head of livestock (1988: 2.1 million) were brought into Hong Kong by rail. Exports to China by rail accounted for 458 000 tonnes, a slight decrease from the 484 000 tonnes carried in 1988. Conditions for cross border rail passengers were greatly improved by the new terminal building at Lo Wu which was opened in 1987. Cross border passenger traffic on the railway was 26.4 million in 1989. A further extension of the terminal is being planned to cope with the anticipated future growth in traffic.
In 1989, ferry services between Hong Kong and China, handled by eight operators, carried 3.04 million passengers (3.2 million in 1988). The new China ferry terminal in Canton Road was opened on November 8, 1988, providing much-improved facilities and sufficient capacity to meet demand beyond the turn of the century.
Road Network
Hong Kong's roads have one of the highest vehicle densities in the world. At the end of 1989, there were 345 397 licenced vehicles and about 1 465 kilometres of roads - 402 on Hong Kong Island, 376 in Kowloon and 687 in the New Territories. This high vehicle density, combined with the difficult terrain and the dense building development, imposes a constant challenge to transport planners. There are five major road tunnels, over 630 flyovers and bridges, 371 footbridges and 202 subways to keep vehicles and people on the move.
To cope with the ever-increasing transport demands, the Highways Department has embarked on an extensive construction programme, with about 50 road projects under construction and a similar number being actively planned at any one time.
Expenditure on highway projects was about $2,060 million, representing a 25 per cent increase compared with 1988, while another $513 million was spent on improving and maintaining existing roads.
Strategic Road Network
The principal feature of the strategic road system is Route 1, which runs from Aberdeen on the southern shore of Hong Kong Island to Lok Ma Chau Border Control Point in the northern New Territories, passing through three tunnels - Aberdeen, Cross-Harbour and Lion Rock. On Hong Kong Island, Route 8 runs along the northern shore from the Cross-Harbour Tunnel through the Island Eastern Corridor to Shau Kei Wan and Chai Wan in the east. Route 7 stretches from the Cross-Harbour Tunnel along the north shore, through Gloucester Road, Harcourt Road and Connaught Road to Kennedy Town in the west. Route 2 runs from Kowloon Bay Reclamation Area, through the airport tunnel, onto East and West Kowloon Corridors, Tsuen Wan Road, Tuen Mun Road and Yuen Long Northern Bypass to the junction of Castle Peak Road and Lok Ma Chau Border Link Road. Route 4 runs along the base of the foothills separating Kowloon from the New Territories and connects Kwun Tong and Lai Chi Kok.
Another two new strategic routes are under construction. Route 5, a seven-kilometre two-way trunk road connecting Sha Tin with Tsuen Wan, is being constructed at a cost of about $1.3 billion. When completed in 1990, it will form part of the New Territories
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