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The Transport Department (TD) today (October 16) said that some protesters placed barriers and threw large items on roads while others conducted surprise actions or flash mob last night had caused traffic chaos. These illegal acts not only posed threat to the safety of the protesters themselves but also caused serious danger to motorists and other road users.
At an inter-departmental press conference today, the Assistant Commissioner for Transport, Mr Albert Su, strongly condemned the illegal and irresponsible acts because they might lead to severe casualties if accidents happened. Vehicles and buses were also trapped during the occupation of roads by the protesters' surprise actions, which had further affected bus services and resulted in route diversion. It had also increased the workload of bus drivers and frontline staff, and baffled passengers with constant changes to bus services.
Since the public transport services affected by the illegal protests remain unstable, changes have been made to the frequencies or routings in view of the traffic situation or unforeseen incidents, causing lost trips and delay. Mr Su called on members of the public to continue to start their journey early and allow more time for travelling. They should also pay attention to the TD and bus companies' latest announcement of traffic and transport information, and plan their journey in advance.
Referring to the traffic situation, Mr Su noted that a number of major roads on Hong Kong Island were still illegally occupied by the protesters, adding that since Harcourt Road was not yet re-opened, traffic nearly paralysed last night in Central, Admiralty and Wan Chai and bottleneck was formed at the junction of Gloucester Road (west bound) and O'Brien Road, resulting in very long traffic queues on Gloucester Road, Aberdeen Tunnel and Island Eastern Corridor.
In order to relieve the situation during peak hours this morning, the TD and Police had implemented a number of temporary traffic management measures and thus traffic was improved on Gloucester Road this morning. The TD and Police will continue to monitor the road traffic changes and carry out effective temporary traffic management measures. Motorists should pay attention to the arrangements and follow the instructions of Police.
Regarding public transport services, eight bus routes are still suspended today and 218 bus routes are diverted. A total of 23 Green minibus routes travelling via Harcourt Road and Nathan Road are still diverted, suspended or with service adjusted. Tram services between Percival Street and Victoria Park remains suspended. The MTRCL continues to increase services and deploy more manpower resources for all urban lines.
The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will continue to monitor the road traffic situation and transport services. For details of the major traffic and transport arrangements currently implemented, please refer to the TD website (www.td.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, October 16, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:50
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