XN000022-1996-09-20 — Page 11

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Final section of West Kowloon Corridor completed

The opening of the last ramp of the final section of the West Kowloon Corridor signifies the overall completion of the entire road project, the Director of Highways, Mr Leung Kwok-sun, said today (Friday).

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the road section, Mr Leung said the completion of the five-kilometre corridor will result in much shorter travelling time between Lai Chi Kok and Yau Tsim Mong areas.

The final section, or Phase II of Stage IV, of the West Kowloon Corridor project involves the construction of a two-lane upramp, providing a direct link from Ferry Street northbound passing over Cherry Street to the existing Tai Kok Tsui Road Flyover.

The project also includes demolition of an end section of the existing Gascoigne Road Flyover and the construction of a flyover extension along Ferry Street over Waterloo Road junction to meet at the ground level near Dundas Street.

In addition, four connection ramps are provided at suitable locations to cater for local traffic.

"Two footbridges across Ferry Street at Waterloo Road and Dundas Street and one pedestrian subway have been built to replace two old subways there. This is to enhance pedestrian safety and cater for the future developments in the West Kowloon Reclamation." Mr Leung said.

The final section of the corridor with a contract value of $400 million was one of the largest in-house projects designed and supervised by the Highways Department. Construction work, which took 34 months to complete, was carried out by Shui On Civil Contractors Limited.

The whole West Kowloon Corridor was constructed in four stages. Stages 1 to III of the project were completed in late 1987. The first phase of Stage IV was finished in January 1995, while most parts of the flyovers in Phase II were opened in advance to traffic earlier this year.