ENG-1977 — Page 216

COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT

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section of dual carriageway on the Kowloon Bay reclamation, east of the Airport Tunnel, and a start on the San Shan and Wu Hu Street interchanges between the tunnel and Hung Hom. Work began on a section of the elevated road along Lai Chi Kok Road forming part of the West Kowloon Corridor which, on completion, will extend from Yau Ma Tei to Lai Chi Kok. Good progress was maintained on improving Castle Peak Road north of the Lai Chi Kok interchange and constructing the Hoi Bun Road extension and the Kwun Tong cargo handling area.

The major project under construction in the New Territories was Tuen Mun Road Stage I. This was substantially completed by the end of the year and is expected to be opened to traffic early in 1978. Design work on the second three-lane carriageway, which forms Stage II of the project and which is needed to cope with the increase in traffic brought about by the development of Tuen Mun New Town, was virtually completed.

Design work for the new road that will run along the coast between Sha Tin and Tai Po was well advanced. Projects completed during the year included a new railway bridge at the 174-milestone in Tai Po Road with associated road improvement works; duplication of the existing road bridge over the Shing Mun River at Sha Tin; roads and drains for Kwai Shing and Ha Kwai Chung Housing Estates; a footbridge over Castle Peak Road at Chung On Street in Tsuen Wan; and improvement of the South Lantau Island Road between Cheung Sha and Tong Fuk. Satisfactory progress was maintained on improving the existing Tai Po Road between the Chinese University and the Tai Po Market level-crossing, and constructing the second carriageway of Lion Rock Tunnel Road, the flyover across Kwai Chung Road connecting Kwai Fuk Road with Lai King Hill Road, and a new link road between Kwai Fuk Road and Texaco Road to replace the existing narrow Gin Drinker's Bay Road. Construction was started on Stage I of the Tsuen Wan by-pass from Kwai Chung Road to Texaco Road, the grade-separated intersection at Castle Peak - Texaco Road and widening Castle Peak Road from Texaco Road to Chai Wan Kok Street and Ting Kok Road from Tai Po Market to Ha Hang.

Road Tunnels

The Lion Rock Tunnel, opened in 1967, was Hong Kong's first road tunnel. It is managed by the Transport Department and links Kowloon with Sha Tin and other parts of the New Territories. A second tube is under construction and due for com- pletion in January, 1978. The old tube will then be closed for renovation and the twin tube complex, with two lanes in each direction, will be in full operation by October, 1978. In 1977, the tunnel was used by 6.4 million vehicles and revenue from toll fees, which vary from $1 to $2, totalled $7.9 million.

The cross-harbour tunnel, opened in 1972, is a $320 million project operated by the Cross Harbour Tunnel Company, in which the government has a 25 per cent interest. In 1977, some 21.9 million vehicles used the tunnel and revenue from toll fees amount- ed to $135.5 million. The fees vary from $2 for motorcycles to $20 for heavy goods vehicles.

The Kai Tak Tunnel is a twin tube, four-lane government project connecting To Kwa Wan with Kwun Tong under the airport runway. The tubes were completed in 1976 and sealed off awaiting road connections. The remaining works and electrical