XN000022-1977-10-20 — Page 5

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1977.

$1,100 MILLION SPENT ON ROAD WORK IN PAST TEN YEARS ******

HONG KONG HAS SPENT SOME $1,100 MILLION ON NEW ROAD WORKS IN THE PAST 10 YEARS DURING WHICH THE TOTAL LENGTH OF ROADS HAS INCREASED BY 300 KILOMETRES TO 1,100 KILOMETRES.

DISCLOSING THIS TODAY, MR. SIU CHUEN, CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE P.W.D.'S TRAFFIC ENGINEERING (MAINLAND) DIVISION, SAID IT WAS PROPOSED THAT THE FUTURE SPENDING ON NEW ROAD WORKS SHOULD BE $350 MILLION A YEAR (AT 1974 PRICES).

MR. SIU WAS PRESENTING A TECHNICAL PAPER ON A DECADE OF PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAY NETWORK IN HONG KONG ON BEHALF OF THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE, AT THE EIGHTH WORLD MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL ROAD FEDERATION BEING HELD IN TOKYO.

HE SAID THAT HONG KONG AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S FOREMOST INDUSTRIAL CITIES WAS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED WITH 4.4 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING AND WORKING IN A COMPARATIVELY TINY AREA OF 1,046 SQUARE KILOMETRES (403 SQUARE MILES).

AS MUCH OF THIS CONSISTED OF MOUNTAINS AND ISLANDS, THE ACTUAL AREA IN CONSTANT USE WAS LESS THAN 100 SQUARE KILOMETRES (40 SQUARE MILES).

OUTLINING THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE GROWTH OF ROAD TRANSPORT, MR. SIU SAID

+BETWEEN 1966 AND 1976 THE POPULATION

GREW FROM 3.6 MILLION TO 4.4 MILLION.

+ IN COMMON WITH TRENDS ELSEWHERE VEHICLE REGISTRATION, WHICH IN 1960 STOOD AT 40,000, WENT UP FROM 93,000 IN 1966 TO 192,000 IN 1976 AND THE NUMBER OF PERSON TRIPS INCREASED FROM 2.8 MILLION TO OVER SIX MILLION PER DAY.+

ANOTHER FACTOR WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE NEED FOR AN EXPANDED HIGHWAY NETWORK WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TOWNS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.

MR. SIU TOLD REPRESENTATIVES FROM 70 COUNTRIES THAT HONG KONG HAD ONE OF THE HIGHEST VEHICLE DENSITIES IN THE WORLD.

+ IT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE OF THE P.W.D. TO FIND WAYS TO KEEP THE TRAFFIC MOVING REASONABLY SMOOTHLY, TO PLAN PARKING PROVISIONS BOTH ON-STREET AND OFF-STREET, AND TO ENSURE THAT THE STREETS ARE WELL LIT, HE SAID.

/+TO IMPROVE