XN000022-1976-11-23 — Page 2

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1976

CHING CHEUNG ROAD EXTENSION OPENS TO TRAFFIC

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MOTORISTS CAN NOW DRIVE FROM KWUN TONG TO KWAI CHUNG IN LESS THAN 15 MINUTES VIA A NEW $190 MILLION HIGHWAY KNOWN AS ROUTE 4 - JUST COMPLETED BY THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.

THE LAST SECTION OF THE EIGHT-KILOMETRE ROUTE WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED THIS (TUESDAY) AFTERNOON BY MR. FRANCIS TIEN, UNOFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

THE NEWLY OPENED SECTION IS CHING CHEUNG ROAD EXTENSION FROM BUTTERFLY VALLEY INTERCHANGE TO KWAI CHUNG ROAD WHICH WAS COMPLETED BY THE P.W.D.'S HIGHWAYS OFFICE ABOUT A WEEK AGO.

TODAY'S OPENING CEREMONY CULMINATED NEARLY EIGHT YEARS OF SUSTAINED EFFORT BY THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE TO PROVIDE A DIRECT AND FAST LINK BETWEEN THE EXPANDING INDUSTRIAL AREAS IN KWUN TONG AND KOWLOON CITY IN THE EAST AND TSUEN WAN AND KWAI CHUNG IN THE WEST.

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, MR. DAVID MCDONALD SAID THE HIGHWAY WAS FIRST PROPOSED IN 1968 AS PART OF THE ROAD SYSTEM RECOMMENDED BY THE HONG KONG LONG TERM ROAD STUDY AND 13 CONTRACTORS HAD BEEN ENGAGED ON THE PROJECT.

SAID MR. MCDONALD: THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT DEMONSTRATES ONCE AGAIN THE DETERMINATION OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE THE HIGHWAY NETWORK WE NEED AND HIGHLIGHTS THE SKILLS OF OUR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, WHICH DESPITE PHYSICAL PROBLEMS OF CONSTRUCTION IN HONG KONG, SHOW THAT THEY CAN BUILD ARTERIAL ROADS OF A STANDARD COMPARABLE TO THAT OF ANY IN THE WORLD.+

THIS FEELING WAS SHARED BY MR.

TIEN WHO SAID IN HIS OPENING ADDRESS: +1 FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THE OPENING OF THIS ROAD WILL INTRODUCE AN ERA OF GREATER PROSPERITY TO ALL THE AREAS WHICH IT SERVES.+

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TEN YEARS AGO, HE SAID, WHEN CHING CHEUNG ROAD ITSELF WAS COMPLETED, THE LUNG CHEUNG ROAD -- TAI PO ROAD CHING CHEUNG ROAD ROUTE SOON BECAME AN INDISPENSABLE ARTERY LINKING KWAI CHUNG AND TSUEN WAN IN THE WEST WITH SAN PO KONG AND KWUN TONG IN THE EAST, AND SHA TIN AND THE NEW TERRITORIES TO THE NORTH.

+WITH THE LARGE INCREASE IN POPULATION AND THE RAPID INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THESE AREAS, STIMULATED BY THE COMPLETION OF THE CONTAINER TERMINALS AT KWAI CHUNG, A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN TRAFFIC PARTICULARLY IN THE NUMBER OF HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLES WAS EXPECTED.

/+TO COPE