HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 11 January 1989
香港立法局———————————一九八九年一月十一日
21
SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: No, Sir, I will try to be as positive as I can. Between now and the year 1991 there will be very substantial traffic and transport investments in Hong Kong. To name just a few, in September this year the Eastern Harbour Crossing will open providing a rail and road tunnel across the harbour from Cha Kwo Ling in Kowloon to Quarry Bay on Hong Kong Island. This will substantially relieve congestion at the Cross Harbour Tunnel. Secondly we will have the Tate's Cairn Tunnel starting right now to be completed by the summer of 1991 which will then substantially relieve the Lion Rock Tunnel congestion and further north to Shatin. In addition, around the end of this year or early next year, the Route 5 tunnel and road will open between Shatin and Tsuen Wan providing very substantial relief between the two new towns and marginally relieving congestion at the Lion Rock Tunnel. addition, a wide range of projects are being undertaken providing improvements across the New Territories, in the New Territories circular road and other neighbouring areas. Also in the Junk Bay New Town the tunnel is scheduled for completion in 1990, again providing substantial transport services to the new town. So we are talking in terms of very substantial improvements in traffic and transport in the next three to four years, and the Government is certainly not standing still in this direction. Moreover, we are looking further beyond to the next century. The Second Comprehensive Transport Study will be providing the basis for further expansion of transport and communication and, of course, this will be set out in the paper to be discussed later this year.
In
MRS. CHOW: Sir, in exploring the options for improving traffic, will the Secretary give the assurance that no one segment of road users, such as drivers and owners of private vehicles, will be singled out to be unfairly and unnecessarily penalized in favour of other users?
SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: Sir, the options are of course open at this stage and the Government has an open mind on this matter. There will be no pre-conceived notions or preferences at this stage as regards which option to pursue or which sector to look at. But the aim must be to look at a whole range of options and to make the best arrangements in the best interests of Hong Kong.
MR. CHEONG: Sir, could the Secretary confirm, or otherwise, if the Second Comprehensive Transport Study would involve the consideration of options of freezing the total number of vehicles on the road in the light of Hong Kong's limited road space and other related considerations?
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.