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Following is a question by the Hon Cyd Ho and a reply by the Secretary for Transport, Mr Nicholas Ng, in the Legislative Council meeting this afternoon (Wednesday):

Question :

Will the Government inform this Council :

(a) of the designs adopted during the planning stage and the actual situation at present in respect of the access routes and transport service to and from the Kowloon Bay Health Centre; if they are different, of the reasons for and details of such difference; and

(b) whether it plans to improve the current arrangements in respect of the access routes and transport service to and from the centre; if so, of the details?

Reply

Madam President,

The planning of traffic and transport facilities for Kowloon Bay area has taken into account the overall demand generated by the developments in the area as a whole. At the planning stage of the Kowloon Bay Health Centre (the "Centre") in 1995, the Transport Department estimated that the additional traffic and transport demand generated by the establishment of the Centre would be adequately catered for by the existing road network and transport services. It was therefore not necessary to make separate traffic and transport provision for the Centre from a transport point of view. The assessment is still valid. The Centre currently has about 200 staff members and 400 users per day, which is a relatively small number as compared with the population in the nearby area. The area is adequately served by public transport services, including seven bus routes and three GMB routes. The area is also well served by taxis which can pick up and set down passengers in front of the Centre.

The Centre has recently made some improvement suggestions on public transport services for the added convenience of its staff and visitors. In response to the request, a GMB stop sign has been put in front of the main entrance to the Centre as from 7 November 1999. There was also a suggestion to divert a few bus routes to operate via Kai Yan Street to better serve the Centre's staff and visitors. The Transport Department's initial assessment is that there are road safety considerations against this proposal.

End/Wednesday, November 24, 1999

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