TNAG-1363-FCO40-1809-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 53

Revised copy

Question 13

Question:

Written renly to question by the Hon. Andrew WONG Wang-fat in LegCo on 20/11/85

In view of the fact that tunnels are built for the purpose of facilitating traffic and tolls are collected to cover the operation and possibly also to recover the construction cost of the tunnels but not to hinder traffic, and that the traffic flow through the toll booths of the Lion Rock Tunnel is well below the potential traffic flow through the tunnels at Lion Rock themselves, and although Government is now constructing 3 booths in addition to the existing 9 which are not expected to be fully operational before early 1986, will Government inform this Council that until the new booths are operational :

(a) whether it intends to temporarily

dispense with tunnel charges at the Lion Rock Tunnel, if so, when?

If not, why not? and

(b) or alternatively whether it intends

to introduce a prepaid ticket system to increase the traffic flow through the existing booths, if so, when? If not, why not?

Secretary for Transport

It is not intended temporarily to dispense with tunnel charges at the Lion Rock Tunnel pending completion

of the additional three toll booths now under construction.

To do so would add to the volume of traffic using the tunnel as it is estimated that anything up to 50% of vehicles currently using the toll free Tai Po Road would be diverted

on to the Lion Rock Tunnel Road. This is not desirable as the

volume of traffic using the Lion Rock Tunnel and Waterloo Road is increasing steadily and there is no way of knowing whether traffic diverted to the tunnel would revert to the Tai Po Road when tolls were reimposed.