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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (March 2):
Question:
Some residents of New Territories East (NTE) have relayed to me that the ancillary transport facilities in NTE are unable to meet the extra traffic demand resulting from the ever-increasing local population. Local and external traffic congestion often occurs in the district, with the situation being the most acute in Sha Tin, which serves as a traffic hub, and Tseung Kwan O (TKO), whose residents have to rely on the Tseung Kwan O Tunnel (TKO Tunnel) for commuting to and from the urban areas. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have plans to construct new vehicular tunnels connecting Sha Tin and Kowloon in order to alleviate the traffic pressure on Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) whether the authorities implemented traffic improvement measures in the Sha Tin District in the past two years, such as providing additional traffic lanes, improving road markings, adjusting the timing of traffic lights, etc., to alleviate the traffic congestion at Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) given that the authorities have indicated that the Tseung Kwan O - Lam Tin Tunnel (TKO-LT Tunnel) is expected to be commissioned in 2020 at the earliest, of the latest anticipated date of commissioning and the estimated daily traffic volume at the initial stage of commissioning of the tunnel; whether that figure has taken into account the anticipated population growth in TKO in the coming few years; if not, of the reasons for that;
(4) given the serious traffic congestion currently occurs at TKO Tunnel during daily peak hours, whether the authorities will consider implementing temporary traffic arrangements such as tidal flow operation or introducing other traffic improvement measures at TKO Tunnel before the commissioning of TKO-LT Tunnel; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) given that some residents of Sai Kung have pointed out that the roundabout connecting Hiram's Highway, New Hiram's Highway and Nam Pin Wai Road is a traffic bottleneck during daily peak hours and they have therefore suggested that the Government should provide additional traffic lanes or carry out road improvement works there, whether the authorities will consider adopting such suggestions; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to various parts of Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat's question is as follows.
(1) and (2) At present, there are three road tunnels and one trunk road linking Sha Tin with urban Kowloon, viz. Tate's Cairn Tunnel, Lion Rock Tunnel, Route 8 between Sha Tin and Cheung Sha Wan (including Sha Tin Heights Tunnel and Eagle's Nest Tunnel) and Tai Po Road. Generally speaking, the above tunnels and road are able to cope with the transport needs between Sha Tin and Kowloon, though there are congestions at Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel during the morning and evening peaks on weekdays, while the section of Route 8 between Sha Tin and Cheung Sha Wan still has spare capacity.
The Government has been exploring various traffic improvement measures with a view to diverting some of the traffic from Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel to Route 8. As a short-term measure, the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) added a lane to the approach road (near Scenery Court) leading from Tai Po Road (Sha Tin Section) to Route 8 last year to attract motorists to use Route 8 and hence improve the traffic on the approach road and adjacent areas. As a medium-term improvement measure, the CEDD is planning to widen the section of Tai Po Road (Sha Tin Section) between Sha Tin Rural Committee Road and Fo Tan Road from dual two-lane carriageway to dual three-lane carriageway so as to increase the capacity of this road section to alleviate the traffic pressure at the Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel. The detailed design works commenced in December 2015 and the construction works are expected to start in late 2017.
Furthermore, the CEDD plans to carry out a traffic review on the major roads in Sha Tin, including Tai Po Road (Sha Tin Section), Tate's Cairn Highway and Lion Rock Tunnel Road, etc., to work out possible measures to address the traffic congestion problem in Sha Tin in long term.
Regarding the railways, the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) under construction will provide a non-road based public transport option for commuting between Sha Tin and the urban areas. Upon its operation commencing from 2019 in stages, we anticipate that some commuters who have been using road-based public transport will be attracted to use SCL, thus relieving the traffic pressure of the Tate's Cairn Tunnel and the Lion Rock Tunnel.
(3) The Tsueng Kwan O - Lam Tin Tunnel (TKO-LT Tunnel) connects Po Shun Road in Tseung Kwan O and the proposed Cross Bay Link, Tseung Kwan O in the east, and the Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) and Cha Kwo Ling Road in Kwun Tong in the west. We will strive to seek funding approval for the construction of the TKO-LT Tunnel within this legislative year with a view to commencing construction works in 2016 for completion in 2021.
When planning the TKO-LT Tunnel, the Government has already taken into account the traffic demand arising from the population growth under the planned development of Tseung Kwan O up to 2031 available at that time. Assuming that the toll level of the TKO-LT Tunnel would be the same as the current toll level of the Tseung Kwan O Tunnel (TKO Tunnel), the traffic volume of the TKO-LT Tunnel would be around 57 000 vehicles per day at the initial stage of commissioning.
(4) The TKO Tunnel, providing two-lane carriageways for both Kowloon bound and Tseung Kwan O bound traffic, is an important trunk road linking Tseung Kwan O new town with Kowloon. Currently, the volume/capacity (v/c) ratio (Note) of Kowloon bound traffic during peak hours is around 1.13. This means that while traffic is relatively slow during peak hours, the traffic condition is still acceptable. The v/c ratio of Tseung Kwan O bound traffic of the tunnel is about 0.83, indicating smooth flow.
Currently, congestion occurs in Kowloon bound traffic of the TKO Tunnel during morning peak hours. If "tidal flow operation" is to be implemented during morning peak hours, the number of Tseung Kwan O bound lanes would be reduced by one for creating an additional Kowloon bound lane (i.e. three Kowloon bound lanes plus one Tseung Kwan O bound lane). However, this would increase the v/c ratio of Tseung Kwan O bound traffic of the tunnel from the existing 0.83 to over 1.2, meaning that the condition of the Tseung Kwan O bound traffic would change from smooth flow to congestion. Thus, the proposed implementation would have a grave impact on the journey time for Tseung Kwan O bound vehicles, including public transport services such as franchised buses. Moreover, Tseung Kwan O bound traffic queues would tail back to Kwun Tong Road/Kwun Tong Bypass, where the traffic condition would also be affected. Other roads connecting Tseung Kwan O and Kowloon are so circuitous that they could hardly help divert a significant volume of the existing traffic away from the TKO Tunnel. Thus, a feasible and ultimate solution to the problem would rely on the construction of the TKO-LT Tunnel.
(5) To address the traffic problems at the roundabout connecting Hiram's Highway, New Hiram's Highway and Nam Pin Wai Road (i.e. the roundabout at the junction of Hiram's Highway and New Hiram's Highway) and in response to residents' requests, the Government obtained funding approval from the Finance Committee of this Council in 2015 for widening the road sections concerned. The road improvement works are expected to commence early this year and targeted for completion by end 2020.
Note: The v/c ratio is an indicator of the performance of a road. A v/c ratio equals to or less than 1.0 means that a road has sufficient capacity to cope with the volume under consideration and the resultant traffic will flow smoothly. A v/c ratio above 1.0 indicates the onset of congestion; and that above 1.2 indicates more serious congestion with speed deteriorating progressively with further increase in traffic.
Ends/Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:00
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