13
WEDNESDAY, MARCH, 1985
+AND YET IT IS THE ONE THAT IS MOST EASILY OVERLOOKED,+ HE SAID.
THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT, HE SAID, WAS PLANNING TO EXAMINE THIS YEAR A NUMBER OF AREAS WHICH HAD PARTICULAR PEDESTRIAN FLOW PROBLEMS, SO AS TO RECOMMEND IMPROVEMENTS FOR CONSIDERATION BY GOVERNMENT AND THE RESPECTIVE DISTRICT BOARDS. BUT, IN VIEW OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PEDESTRIAN AND VEHICULAR TRAFFIC, THE DEPARTMENT WAS UNDER NO DELUSIONS THAT CHANGE WOULD BE EASY.
ON THE ONE HAND, IN SUCH AN ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE CITY AS HONG KONG, THERE WAS ALWAYS A GOOD CASE FOR PROVIDING A FREE FLOW CONDITION FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC, MR LEEDS SAID. UNFORTUNATELY, EFFORTS TO IMPROVE VEHICULAR TRAFFIC FLOW NEARLY ALWAYS WERE TO THE DISADVANTAGE OF PEDESTRIANS. OFTEN FOOTPATHS HAD TO BE NARROWED, CORNERS SHAVED, TRAFFIC ISLANDS REMOVED, PEDESTRIAN BARRIERS RAISED AND PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT GUIDED INTO A MORE LIMITED NUMBER OF CROSSING POINTS, WHICH COULD TAKE THE FORM OF DREARY TUNNELS OR HIGH FOOTBRIDGES.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IMPROVEMENTS TO PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC, ESPECIALLY IN THE OLD URBAN AREAS, COULD SOMETIMES BE MADE ONLY BY INCREASING THE CAPACITY OF THE SIDEWALKS AND THE ROAD CROSSINGS THEREBY REDUCING THE CAPACITY OF ROADS FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC.
+WHEN THERE ARE CONFLICTING NEEDS BY EQUALLY WORTHY CLAIMANTS, FAIR JUDGMENT IS UNLIKELY TO GIVE ANYONE FULL SATISFACTION,+ MR LEEDS SAID.
HE SAID IT WAS MUCH EASIER TO CATER FOR PEDESTRIAN NEEDS IN NEW TOWNS THAN IN ESTABLISHED URBAN AREAS.
THIS WAS CLEARLY BORNE OUT BY THE NEW TOWNS BUILT BY THE NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, WHERE THE SEPARATION OF PEDESTRIAN AND VEHICULAR TRAFFIC HAD PRODUCED ENVIRONMENTS WHICH WERE MUCH SAFER, ECONOMICALLY MORE EFFICIENT, AND CONSIDERABLY MORE PLEASANT TO LIVE AND WORK IN.
IMPROVEMENTS TO PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC IN ESTABLISHED URBAN AREAS COULD BE MADE WHEN LARGE-SCALE REDEVELOPMENT TOOK PLACE.
A CASE IN POINT WAS THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF HONG KONG, WHERE AN ELEVATED PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION SYSTEM RAPIDLY DEVELOPED AS A RESULT OF CO-OPERATIVE EFFORTS OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE GOVERNMENT. IN OTHER LOCATIONS, THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY STATIONS HAD ALSO PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE NEW SUB-SURFACE PEDESTRIAN LINKS.
WHILE AGREEING THAT OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, BOTH THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE GOVERNMENT HAD GIVEN A HIGHER PRIORITY TO THE USE OF THE FEET AS AN IMPORTANT MODE OF TRANSPORT IN THE URBAN AREA, MR LEEDS STRESSED THAT THERE WAS STILL MUCH TO BE DONE.
/HE LISTED