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+TO IMPROVE JUNCTIONS, SOME 43 GRADE SEPARATED INTERCHANGES HAVE BEEN DESIGNED. IN THE NARROW CONFINES OF URBAN STREET AND, IN THE HILLY TOPOGRAPHY OF HONG KONG ISLAND THIS OFTEN REQUIRES A GREAT DEAL OF INGENUITY. WHERE SPACE IS INADEQUATE FOR GRADE SEPARATION, SOME 320 SETS OF TRAFFIC SIGNALS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED MANY OF THEM LINKED.
+AN AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL SCHEME INVOLVING SOME 83 JUNCTIONS WAS PUT INTO OPERATION IN MARCH THIS YEAR.
ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE WORK, MR. SIU SAID THAT MANY OF HONG KONG'S HIGHWAYS WERE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR A DIFFERENT ERA AND THUS CONSIDERABLE RECONSTRUCTION WORK WAS CONSTANTLY TAKING PLACE.
ALSO, HE POINTED OUT THAT HIGH POPULATION DENSITIES AND LARGE SCALE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN SUCH A SMALL AREA HAD CREATED A PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICING PROBLEM THAT FEW CITIES HAD EVER KNOWN.
EACH YEAR, HE ADDED, THERE WERE 16,000 ROAD OPENINGS BY UTILITY UNDERTAKERS,
MR. SIU RECALLED THAT SYSTEMATIC PLANNING OF TRANSPORT BEGAN IN HONG KONG IN 1964 WITH THE SETTING UP OF THE PASSENGER TRANSPORT SURVEY UNIT JOINTLY BY THE BRITISH TRANSPORT AND ROAD RESEARCH LABORATORY AND THE HONG KONG PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
ONE OF ITS TERMS OF REFERENCE WAS TO BUILD UP WITHIN GOVERNMENT A PERMANENT ORGANISATION WHICH WOULD KEEP UNDER CONTINUOUS REVIEW THE REQUIREMENTS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG.
THE UNIT COMPLETED ITS WORK IN DECEMBER 1966 AND WAS PERMANENTLY INTEGRATED INTO THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT AND EVENTUALLY BECAME THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT SURVEY DIVISION OF THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE.
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SINCE THEN, HE SAID, TWO MORE STUDIES THE STUDY ON THE NEED AND FEASIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING A MASS TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND THE LONG TERM ROAD STUDY · HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT.
AS ALL THREE STUDIES WERE AIMED AT INDIVIDUAL ASPECTS OF TRANSPORT AND NONE HAD LOOKED AT THE TRANSPORT SCENE AS AN ORGANIC WHOLE, CONSULTANTS WERE AGAIN EMPLOYED IN 1973 TO CARRY OUT A COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORT STUDY OF HONG KONG.
THE FINAL REPORT ON THE STUDY WAS MADE PUBLIC IN DECEMBER 1976, MR. SIU SAID.
ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE CONSULTANTS WAS THAT THE ROAD NETWORK SHOULD BE EXPANDED AT A COST OF $350 MILLION TO ACCOMMODATE THE MAJOR PORTION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT PLUS ALL PRIVATE AND GOODS VEHICLES.
/THE CONSULTANTS