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TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1981
STAGE ONE INCLUDES A 2-KILOMETRE DUAL THREE-LANE HIGHWAY, PARTLY IN THE FORM OF A VIADUCT. IT CONNECTS KWAI CHUNG ROAD AND TEXACO ROAD AND HAS SLIP ROADS LEADING TO A ROUNDABOUT INTERSECTION AT THE JUNCTION OF KWAI TSING ROAD AND HONG FONG ROAD.
THE PROJECT TOOK 2-1/2 YEARS TO COMPLETE AND COST $104 MILLION.
DR TIEN CONGRATULATED THE DESIGNERS, THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, AND THE CONTRACTORS, THE FRENCH COMPANY DRAGAGES ET TRAVAUX PUBLICS.
+THOSE OF US WHO LIVE OR WORK IN TSUEN WAN NEW TOWN HAVE WATCHED THE GROWING CONGESTION ON THE ROADS WITH EVER-INCREASING APPREHENSION AND I AM THEREFORE VERY PLEASED TO HAVE BEEN ASKED TO OPEN THE FIRST STAGE OF THE TSUEN WAN BYPASS, DR TIEN SAID.
*THE COMPLETION OF THIS STAGE ONE REPRESENTS ANOTHER MILESTONE IN THE EFFORT OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT IN PROVIDING AN IMPROVED ROAD NETWORK TO SERVE THE TRANSPORT NEEDS OF THE RAPIDLY GROWING POPULATION AND INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY OF TSUEN WAN.
*THIS FIRST STAGE SHOULD CONSIDERABLY REDUCE THE TRAFFIC ON THE KWAI CHUNG ROAD SYSTEM AND CONSIDERABLY IMPROVE TRAFFIC FLOW TO AND FROM THE CONTAINER PORT AND TSING YI,+
DR TIEN NOTED THAT ABOUT 750 000 CUBIC METRES OF ROCK AND EARTH WERE REMOVED FOR THE PROJECT AND ABOUT 22 000 CUBIC METRES OF CONCRETE WERE POURED. PART OF THE CONSTRUCTION INVOLVED A DIFFICULT SECTION CUTTING THROUGH A ROCKY HEADLAND.
WHILE STAGE ONE WOULD PROVIDE SOME RELIEF TO THROUGH TRAFFIC, HE LOOKED FORWARD TO THE COMPLETION OF STAGE TWO ACROSS TSUEN WAN BAY TO CREATE A COMPLETELY SEGREGATED ROUTE FOR TRAFFIC THROUGH TSUEN WAN TO TUEN MUN AND THE NORTH WEST NEW TERRITORIES.
HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE FIRST PHASE OF STAGE TWO WORK WAS PROGRESSING WELL AND THAT TENDERS FOR THE MAIN ELEVATED ROADWORKS WOULD BE CALLED LATER THIS YEAR. IT WAS HOPED TO COMPLETE THE MAIN BYPASS ROADS BY THE END OF 1984.
*THE TSUEN WAN BYPASS, WHILE FORMING PART OF A TERRITORY-WIDE TRUNK ROAD SYSTEM, IS ALSO AN ESSENTIAL PART OF TSUEN WAN NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENT, WHICH IS ALSO ADVANCING AT AN IMPRESSIVE RATE,+ DR TIEN SAID,
THE DEVELOPMENT ON NORTH EAST TSING YI IS PROGRESSING AND DEVELOPMENT WORK HAS STARTED ON A SECOND BRIDGE TO TSING YI WHICH WILL SPAN THE NORTHERN END OF THE RAMBLER CHANNEL AND JOIN THE TSUEN WAN BYPASS AT THIS POINT BY A SYSTEM OF ELEVATED ROADWAYS AND A GROUND LEVEL ROUNDABOUT.
+THIS SECOND BRIDGE, WHICH WILL HAVE DUAL TWO-LANE CARRIAGEWAYS, WILL BE BUILT TO SERVE TŠING YI IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER THE ROAD CONNECTION TO LANTAU IS REQUIRED OR NOT.+
DR TIEN SAID THAT A STUDY WOULD SOON BEGIN TO ASSESS FUTURE PUBLIC TRANSPORT NEEDS, PARTICULARLY THOSE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE OPENING OF THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY LINK TO TSUEN WAN, SCHEDULED FOR MID-1982.
/IN HIS
E