NEW WATERFRONT ROAD TO COST $19 MILLION
AN east-west waterfront road, de-
signed to cope with the rapidly increasing volume of motor traffic between Central District and North Point, may be a reality within five years' time following the recent authorisation of the Wanchai re clamation.
According to tentative plans, the proposed waterfront road will be ap proximately a mile and a half in length. The entire scheme is expected to cost more than $19 million to complete. The detailed planning of the scheme still requires the approval of Finance Committee and its Public Works Sub-Committee.
The road will begin at the Wanchai end of Harcourt Road, then run along a much-widened Gloucester Road be- fore passing by the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter, after which it will extend along the seaward boundary of Victoria Park and later join the existing road network of North Point at Hing Fat Street.
The Acting Director of Public Works. the Hon. J. J. Robson, said last month that detailed planning of the project was expected to start in the near future.
CROSS-HARBOUR TUNNELS "The planning, however. cannot be finalised until we know how the area adjacent to Kellet Island will be affected by the Island terminal of the proposed cross-harbour tunnels," he said.
"The problem of traffic access into the City from North Point, which has experienced very rapid building growth in the past few years, has been worrying the Public Works Department planners and engineers for many years." Mr. Robson ex- plained.
"It has always been realised that the rapidly increasing traffic volumes. in
the Wanchai and Causeway Bay areas make a waterfront road a mat- ter of major importance but it would not be prac- tical to build the link from Harcourt Road to North Point until the basic data affecting all sections of the road are available.**
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TIDAL, BASIN
Construction of an east-west water- front road was proposed in a plan of City area communications prepared by the Roads Office in 1957. One section of it, now Harcourt Road, was built four years ago.
-RECLAMATION-
TH
HE recently approved re- clamation of 94.5 acres of foreshore and seabed off Glouce- ster Road, Wanchai, will proceed in stages over several years.
The rubble mound and sea- wall will provide considerable space for dumping excavated materials from both Government and private projects.
Part of the reclamation will be used for the new waterfront road an extension of Harcourt Road.
The proposed reclamation will be bounded on the seaward side by a seawall of about 4,500 feet to be constructed from the western side of Kellett Island to a point about 600 feet east of the eastern arm of the Tidal Basin of the Royal Navy Base.
About four years ago, a work- ing scale model of the harbour was built at the Wallingford Research Centre on information supplied by the Public Works Department. Tests proved that the reclamation would not seriously affect the tidal flow in the harbour.
Construction of the remainder of the road depends, however, on other public works schemes, such as the Wanchai reclamation which is itself
HARCOURT ROAD
100
APPROVED RECLAMATION
GLOUCESTER
HOOF
10000
ROAD
a major project involving complicat- ed planning and very substantial expenditure of public funds.
Moreover, the planning and timing of a reclamation as big as the one off the Gloucester Road waterfront involves making arrangements for waterfront activities to continue or else making alternative provision for them.
“Particular examples in the case of the Wanchai reclamation are piers, ferry services and cargo-handling facilities along Gloucester Road. Mr. Robson said.
Other planning problems arise. These include the problem of marine access to the typhoon shelter, the necessary encroachment on Victoria Park, and finally the question of motor access to the heavily built-up areas of Causeway Bay and North Point.
Details for the alignment of the cross-harbour tunnel and the effect this will have on the design of the waterfront road have also still to be worked out.
THREE-LANE CARRIAGEWAY
According to preliminary planning, the proposed road will have a dual three-lane carriageway with possible flyovers at Fenwick Street. Fleming Road and Canal Road to serve as interchange points to the existing road network and to the new development.
To avoid interruption of traffic ilow and ensure the safety of pedes- trians, four pedestrian subways are also envisaged at key points to con- nect existing properties with the new development, including bus and ferry
KELLETT ISLAND
concourses, that is to take place on the other side of Gloucester Road.
At
a point near the east end of Victoria Park. the road will divide into
two streams one to divert east-bound traffic to Wing Hing Street or to Electric Road via Gor- don Road and the other to accommodate west- bound traffic by way of Tsing Fung Street.
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1
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