CHAPTER 16
THE AIRPORT CORE PROGRAMME
It was a fruitful year for the Airport Core Programme (ACP). Following the opening between February and April 1997 — of the West Kowloon Expressway, the Kwai Chung Viaduct of Route 3 and the Western Harbour Crossing, the remaining sections of the ACP transport corridor were opened to traffic on May 22. These were the North Lantau Expressway, the Lantau Link, and the Tsing Yi Section of Route 3. Their opening signified the full completion of the transport corridor between Central and Tung Chung.
A ceremony was held on April 27 to mark the official opening of the Lantau Link - the largest transport project in the ACP. Over 3 000 guests and performers witnessed the ceremony, around 100 000 members of the public enjoyed the fireworks display on site and another two million people watched it on television. Extensive coverage of the ceremony by local and international media projected Hong Kong as a capable provider of infrastructure development services and promoted the Lantau Link as a landmark and a symbol of Hong Kong's success.
Eight of the 10 ACP projects are substantially complete. By the end of the year, the ACP was 94 per cent complete overall. The remaining two projects, the new airport and the Airport Railway (AR), are on course to meet their respective target completion dates in April and June 1998. The government has decided to open the new airport for operation on July 6, 1998, after the AR is available to ensure that there will be adequate and efficient transportation support for the new airport.
The overall ACP budget has been reduced by $8.4 billion from $163.7 billion in 1992 to the present estimate of $155.3 billion. This was made possible principally as a result of rigorous cost control efforts on ACP works and the open and transparent system in awarding ACP contracts.
Benefits for the Community
The main benefits for the community, apart from a new world-class airport operating around the clock, come from improved road and rail facilities which help ease congestion in the West Kowloon and Kwai Tsing areas and open up north Lantau. The closure of the existing airport will provide substantial environmental benefits for the 380 000 residents living under its flight path, who will escape the noise of aircraft, and make available much-needed land for residential and commercial developments in Kowloon.
The projects will provide further local job and business opportunities. More than 30 000 jobs have been generated for local workers during the construction period. It
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