ENG-1992 — Page 260

TRANSPORT

New Airport Access

The relocation of the airport to Chek Lap Kok requires additional road links to serve the new airport and its supporting community. The major highway projects to cater for airport traffic include the Western Harbour Crossing, West Kowloon Expressway, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi sections of Route 3, the Lantau Fixed Crossing and the North Lantau Expressway.

The Western Harbour Crossing will be a tunnel constructed by a private sector franchisee under a ‘build, operate and transfer' arrangement with dual three-lane capacity connecting the western end of Hong Kong Island with the West Kowloon Reclamation. Construction is planned to start in mid-1993. Upon its completion in mid-1997, it will also help to relieve congestion of the existing cross harbour tunnels.

The West Kowloon Expressway will link the northern portal of Western Harbour Crossing to Lai Chi Kok, forming an important part of Route 3. It will be a dual three-lane carriageway which will serve the West Kowloon Reclamation and will substantially relieve the local and distributor roads in central and west Kowloon. Connecting Kwai Chung with the Lantau Fixed Crossing, the Tsing Yi section of Route 3 will be a dual three-lane carriageway extending into a dual four-lane viaduct in Kwai Chung to cope with the high traffic volume. Construction for this section of Route 3 is expected to start in 1993.

The Lantau Fixed Crossing will comprise the Kap Shui Mun Bridge linking north-east Lantau to Ma Wan and the Tsing Ma Bridge across the Ma Wan Channel. The latter, in the form of a suspension bridge with a main span of about 1.4 kilometres, will be one of the longest of its kind in the world and will become a prominent landmark in Hong Kong. The construction of Tsing Ma Bridge commenced in May 1992 for completion in mid-1997. Construction of the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, with a main central span of 430 metres, will be completed at the same time. The crossing will provide a road and rail link with Lantau Island. The North Lantau Expressway will be a 12.5-kilometre dual three-lane carriageway along the northern coast of Lantau linking the Lantau Fixed Crossing to the new airport at Chek Lap Kok. The construction of the expressway is in three sections. Work on the first two sections at Tai Ho and Yam O started in June and October 1992.

The Airport Core Programme also includes a rail link which will provide both a fast and efficient train service to the new airport and a domestic service to bring relief to the Nathan Road Corridor of the Mass Transit Railway, serve new developments on the West Kowloon Reclamation and the Tung Chung New Town, and provide a third cross harbour rail link.

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Environmental Impact of Road Construction

The environmental impact of new road projects is carefully appraised at the planning stage by the Highways Department. Where practical, measures such as landscaping works, artificial contouring of surrounding hillsides and installation of noise barriers are considered. Pre-cast decorative concrete panels applied to the retaining wall of the Gascoigne Road Flyover project and the enclosed-type noise barrier for the section of the Tate's Cairn Tunnel approach roads near Richland Gardens in Kowloon Bay are two good examples. Where necessary, consideration is also given to providing air-conditioning units and double glazing in domestic premises where noise levels cannot be brought within the required standard by other means.