ENG-1971 — Page 238

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COMMUNICATIONS

remaining single-lane part of Tai Mong Tsai Road, and on the con- struction of the new road between Tai Mei Tuk and Luk Keng. On Lantau a new road was completed linking Tai O, the largest urban centre, to the rest of the island.

Traffic management techniques were again applied to make the best use of the existing road network. Good progress was made in the installation of traffic light signals at road intersections and pedestrian crossings, and 220 sets of traffic signals were in opera- tion by the end of 1971. A feasibility report on the introduction of Area Traffic Control proposes the control of 73 intersections in Kowloon by a computer located in a central control room.

Among the transportation surveys carried out were trends in vehicle registrations, journey-times on the major urban routes on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon and the effects on road traffic of 'clearway' regulations along Shanghai Street and Reclamation Street. A major study of goods vehicle operations was undertaken with the assistance of university students. The first of the detailed studies of bus operations on a route-by-route basis was completed. The infor- mation on journeys to work and school collected during the 1971 Population and Housing Census was coded to facilitate computer processing and observations were made of passenger movements across the harbour and other barriers to check the results obtained from the census.

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A government working group was set up to consider in detail the Hong Kong Mass Transit Further Studies Final Report and, ulti- mately, to prepare an official view of the proposed mass transit railway scheme for submission to the Governor in Council. In the meantime, all public and private development proposals which af- fected the proposed railway scheme were examined to prevent any conflict and to protect the suggested route.

CROSS HARBOUR TUNNEL

The Cross Harbour Tunnel Company, in which the Government has a 25 per cent interest, reported continued progress in the con- struction of the tunnel. Fabrication and launching of the 15 tube units was completed by the end of the year and all but two of these had been placed in position on the sea bed. The heavy civil engineering work associated with the approach ramps and ventila- tion buildings at either end was almost complete, leaving the instal- lation of plant, equipment and fitting out as the major work still to be done. The road connections at either end of the tunnel, which