ENG-2001 — Page 311

TRANSPORT

To cope with future growth in traffic demand in the eastern districts of Hong Kong Island and to ease traffic congestion near the Eastern Harbour Crossing, improvement works to the Island Eastern Corridor section between the North Point Interchange and Sai Wan Ho started in July 2000 for completion in 2003.

Planned Road Projects

Several strategic road projects are under study and design with the aim of further expanding and improving the road network.

The Shenzhen Western Corridor is an additional cross-boundary link between Shekou in Shenzhen and Ngau Hom Shek in Hong Kong. The new crossing is proposed to relieve the traffic burden on the existing three boundary crossings. The planned new road is a 5.1-kilometre dual three-lane highway, of which 3.2 kilometres are within the HKSAR.

The Deep Bay Link is a 5.4-kilometre approach road connecting the Shenzhen Western Corridor with the Yuen Long Highway at Lam Tei. The road is planned to be a dual three-lane trunk road providing access to the Shenzhen Western Corridor and the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area in the north-western New Territories.

The existing Yuen Long Highway is a dual two-lane corridor between Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. To cope with the anticipated growth in traffic, it is proposed to widen the 6.7-kilometre section of the Yuen Long Highway between Lam Tei and Shap Pat Heung Interchange from dual-two to dual-three lanes.

Route 10 between the Yuen Long Highway and North Lantau is planned as a dual three-lane expressway to provide an improved link between the north-western New Territories and North Lantau. It will also serve as a second extension road link to Lantau Island in the event that the Lantau Link has to be closed because of emergency. Route 10 will have viaducts, tunnels and a major suspension bridge, the Tsing Lung Bridge. With a span of 1 418 metres, the Tsing Lung Bridge will be the fourth longest suspension bridge in the world.

Route 9 (Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin section) will be a dual three-lane expressway connecting West Kowloon at Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin at Tai Wai. It will significantly alleviate traffic congestion at the Lion Rock Tunnel and the Tate's Cairn Tunnel, and in Tai Po Road.

Route 9 (Tsing Yi and Cheung Sha Wan section) will be a dual three-lane expressway connecting the West Kowloon Highway and the North-West Tsing Yi Interchange. It will also provide access to the existing Container Terminal 8 and to Container Terminal 9, which is under construction. An international competition has been held for the conceptual design of the main element of the route the Stonecutters Bridge, which will have a span of about 1 000 metres. The results of the competition were announced in 2000. The detailed design of the bridge is being developed based on the winning design in the competition.

Planning is under way for upgrading the existing Tung Chung Road to a two-lane rural road. This would replace the previously proposed Lantau North South Road Link between Tai Ho Wan and Mui Wo, which was found to have unacceptable environmental impacts.

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