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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-kin and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (March 21):
Question:
The authorities are carrying out works at the area between Anderson Road and Sau Mau Ping Road in Kwun Tong (North) to form about 20 hectres of building platforms for development of public housing as well as other government, institution or community facilities ("the Development Area"), and the works are expected to be completed by around 2014. At present, residents in Kwun Tong (North) mainly rely on two major trunk roads (i.e. Clear Water Bay Road for westbound traffic and Tsueng Kwan O Road for eastbound traffic) or pass through Kwun Tong town centre for access to other districts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective reserve capacities of the relevant road junctions (including the junctions of Sau Mau Ping Road / Tsueng Kwan O Road, Tsueng Kwan O Road / Lei Yue Mun Road, New Clear Water Bay Road / Clear Water Bay Road and Hong Ning Road / Kwun Tong Road, etc.) in Kwun Tong (North) in the past three years;
(b) whether the authorities have assessed the traffic flows of the roads in the Development Area and the road junctions in (a); if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) apart from constructing the Central Kowloon Route, whether the authorities have rolled out any new road planning for the Development Area so as to alleviate the additional traffic pressure on Kwun Tong (North)?
Reply:
President,
In planning the public housing development at Anderson Road, the Administration has considered ways to provide suitable traffic facilities to meet the traffic demand brought about by the development. Relevant measures include constructing a new road to link New Clear Water Bay Road and Po Lam Road, as well as providing facilities such as open-air bus terminus, public light bus stands and taxi stands.
Furthermore, the Civil Engineering and Development Department has carried out improvement and widening works at the following major junctions in Kwun Tong North:
(i) Sau Mau Ping Road / Shun On Road;
(ii) New Clear Water Bay Road / Lee On Road;
(iii) Clear Water Bay Road / Anderson Road;
(iv) Sau Mau Ping Road / Sau Ming Road;
(v) Hip Wo Street / Hong Ning Road; and
(vi) Po Lam Road / Anderson Road.
The improvement and widening works at junctions (i) and (ii) above have already been completed in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The remaining works are expected to be completed in 2013. Apart from the junction improvement and widening works mentioned above, the Transport Department is considering expanding the section of south-bound lane of Sau Mau Ping Road right turning onto west-bound Tseung Kwan O Road from one lane into two lanes, so as to increase the traffic capacity there.
Upon completion of the above-mentioned traffic improvement measures, it is expected that in 2016, the major relevant roads in Kwun Tong North will be able to cope with the additional traffic flow arising from the public housing development at Anderson Road. The estimated reserve capacities of the relevant junctions in 2016 are at Annex. The Administration does not have information on the respective traffic flows or reserve capacities of the several junctions mentioned in part (a) of the question for the past three years.
Ends/Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:01
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