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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1976
SAN SHAN INTERCHANGE
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THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT TODAY AWARDED A $45 MILLION CONTRACT FOR A MAJOR SECTION OF A NEW HIGH-CAPACITY ROUTE DESIGNED TO CUT TRAVELLING TIME BETWEEN CONGESTED KWUN TONG AND URBAN KOWLOON.
THE CONTRACT IS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAN SHAN INTERCHANGE IN TO KWA WAN-ONE OF THE KEY LINKS IN THE SIX-KILOMETRE ROUTE WHICH IN PART WILL CARRY TRAFFIC UNDER THE AIRPORT RUNWAY.
THE CONTRACT FOR THE INTERCHANGE HAS BEEN AWARDED TO KUMAGAI GUMI (H.K.) LIMITED AND WAS FORMALLY SIGNED IN THE P.W.D. HEADQUARTERS THIS (TUESDAY) AFTERNOON.
MR. CHOW CHE-KING, CHIEF P.W.D. ENGINEER OF THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE'S CONSULTANTS MANAGEMENT DIVISION, WHO SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT, SAID CONSTRUCTION WORK WOULD START ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND WOULD TAKE ABOUT TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS.
HE SAID THE WORKS WOULD BASICALLY INVOLVE CONSTRUCTION OF A SUNKEN ROAD ABOUT 280 METRES LONG TO LINK KOWLOON CITY ROAD WITH THE WESTERN ENTRANCE OF THE AIRPORT TUNNEL ROAD WHICH HAS VIRTUALLY BEEN COMPLETED.
+AS PART OF THE CONTRACT, THE EXISTING SAN SHAN ROAD WILL ALSO BE EXTENDED TO KOWLOON CITY ROAD WHICH WILL ALSO BE WIDENED AT THE JUNCTION WHERE SEVERAL SLIP ROADS AND RAMPS WILL BE PROVIDED FOR SMOOTH TRAFFIC FLOW, HE SAID.
+ IN ADDITION, THE SECTION OF SUNG WONG TO ROAD BETWEEN OLYMPIC AVENUE AND KOWLOON CITY ROAD WILL BE REALIGNED AND WIDENED TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC.+
MR. CHOW SAID THE NEED FOR PEDESTRIANS TO CROSS THE ROADS IN SAFETY HAD ALSO BEEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY THE P.W.D. ROAD PLANNERS AND ADEQUATE PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES WOULD BE PROVIDED.
+THESE WILL INCLUDE A MAJOR FOOTBRIDGE AT THE BUSY JUNCTION OF KOWLOON CITY ROAD AND SAN SHAN ROAD, HE SAID.
MR. CHOW SAID THE ENTIRE SCHEME KNOWN AS ROUTE 3 - WOULD COST AN ESTIMATED $300 MILLION AND SHOULD BE OPENED TO TRAFFIC IN 1980.
+SAN SHAN INTERCHANGE IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THIS SCHEME AND IS THE FIRST OF THREE SEPARATE INTERCHANGES ALONG THIS ROUTE.
+ THE NEXT PHASE WILL BE THE CONSTRUCTION OF WU HU INTERCHANGE NEAR THE CROSS-HARBOUR TUNNEL AT HUNG HOM WHICH WILL CONNECT WITH SAN SHAN INTERCHANGE VIA A 1,100-METRE ELEVATED ROAD OVER KOWLOON CITY ROAD.
+WORK ON THIS PHASE IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN EARLY NEXT YEAR AND WILL COMPLETE THE WESTERN APPROACHES TO THE TUNNEL ROAD, HE SAID.
THE AIRPORT