XN000022-1978-06-01 — Page 7

THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1978

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THE OTHER ROAD PROJECT IN THE NEW TERRITORIES OF COMPARABLE MAGNITUDE IS THE SHA TIN-TAI PO COASTAL ROAD.

+THIS PROJECT IS IN THE FINAL STAGE OF DETAIL PLANNING AND WE HAVE PROGRAMMED FOR THE CALLING OF TENDERS FOR ITS CONSTRUCTION AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, HE SAID.

+ IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE NEW TERRITORIES, THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE CIRCULAR ROUTE IS BEING IMPLEMENTED PROGRESSIVELY. IN PARTICULAR, WE PLAN TO START WORK ON THE SECTION BETWEEN YUEN LONG AND AU TAU EARLY NEXT YEAR FOR COMPLETION IN 1980.+

HOWEVER, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ROAD PROJECT AS FAR AS TSUEN WAN IS CONCERNED IS THE NEW ROAD FROM KWAI CHUNG ROAD ACROSS KWAI CHUNG TO TEXACO ROAD AND THENCE ACROSS TSUEN WAN BAY TO LINK UP WITH TUEN MUN ROAD.

WORK ON THE FIRST SECTION OF THE ROAD, KNOWN AS TSUEN WAN BY-PASS, BETWEEN KWAI CHUNG ROAD AND TEXACO ROAD, HAS BEEN PROGRESSING SATISFACTORILY AND SHOULD BE FINISHED IN LATE 1980.

AT THAT TIME, MUCH OF THE TSUEN WAN BOUND TRAFFIC CAN MAKE USE OF THIS ROAD THUS BY-PASSING KWAI CHUNG ROAD THROUGH THE INDUSTRIAL AREA.

MR. CHAN SAID THAT HONG KONG HAD A VERY DIFFICULT NATURAL TOPOGRAPHY AS FAR AS THE ROAD ENGINEER WAS CONCERNED.

+THIS DIFFICULTY IS COMPOUNDED BY THE INTENSITY OF BUILDING DEVELOPMENT. TAKEN TOGETHER, THESE LEAVE LITTLE SCOPE FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS, HE SAID.

+ON THE OTHER HAND, TRAFFIC DEMAND HAS BEEN INCREASING AT AN EXPONENTIAL RATE.

+IN 1960, HONG KONG HAD ONLY 40,000 VEHICLES, NOW VEHICLE REGISTRATION STANDS AT OVER 200,000, A FIVE-FOLD INCREASE.

+HONG KONG HAS JUST OVER 1,000 KILOMETRES OF ROADS AND A VEHICLE DENSITY OF ABOUT 200 VEHICLES PER KILOMETRE, MAKING IT ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD.+

TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF THE ROAD SYSTEM TO MEET EVER INCREASING DEMANDS, MR. CHAN SAID, THE P.W.D. HAD A TEAM OF SOME 200 PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS SUPPORTED BY A LARGE NUMBER OF TECHNICIANS WHO WERE ENGAGED FULL TIME IN THE TASK OF ADMINISTERING AND MAINTAINING THE ROAD SYSTEM, PLANNING AND DESIGNING NEW ROADS AND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS AND, FINALLY, SURVEYING ROAD CONSTRUCTION.

BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE DEMAND, AND CONSEQUENTLY THE MAGNITUDE OF THE HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, HE SAID, THIS TEAM THOUGH QUITE LARGE BY ITSELF, HAD TO BE SUPPLEMENTED TO A GREAT EXTENT, BY THE SERVICES OF CONSULTING ENGINEERS.

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