Cheung Sha Wan to Tsing Yi section of Tsing Sha Highway opens Sunday
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     The Transport Department (TD) today (December 18) announced that the Cheung Sha Wan to Tsing Yi section of Tsing Sha Highway of Route 8 would open to traffic at 7am on Sunday (December 20).

     The 7km-long new section of Tsing Sha Highway to be commissioned comprises the Stonecutters Bridge across the Rambler Channel and the Nam Wan Tunnel at Tsing Yi.  It is connected to the existing Sha Tin to Cheung Sha Wan section of Tsing Sha Highway at Cheung Sha Wan in the east and the Tsing Ma Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge at Tsing Yi in the west.

     Together with the Sha Tin to Cheung Sha Wan section which was opened in March last year, the Tsing Sha Highway will be fully commissioned and will provide more options for travelling between Sha Tin, Lantau Island, West Kowloon (Lai Chi Kok, Cheung Sha Wan and Sham Shui Po) and northwestern part of New Territories.

    The new Highway will provide direct and convenient connections to the container terminals No 8 and 9 at Ngong Shuen Chau and Tsing Yi, relieving the traffic in the vicinity, especially during delivery peaks.  It can also help divert traffic flows to the airport and container terminals.  The highway will offer additional road capacity required to meet the traffic demand arising from the long term development of Lantau Island and the northern part of New Territories (including areas like Tung Chung, Hung Shui Kiu, Kwu Tung, Fanling, Ping Che and Ta Kwu Ling).

     There are two sets of road tunnels along Tsing Sha Highway.  The set connecting to Sha Tin comprises Eagle's Nest Tunnel, Sha Tin Heights Tunnel and Tai Wai Tunnel.  Toll charge for this set of tunnels is $8 for all vehicle classes.  The other set is the Nam Wan Tunnel located in Tsing Yi, which is toll-free.

     For effective and efficient traffic control and incident management, the entire Tsing Sha Highway is designated as a control area. Motorists should comply with the rules and regulations under the relevant ordinance and its subsidiary legislation when driving along the Highway.  Road signs will be erected at all entrances and exits to inform motorists of the Tsing Sha Control Area boundary.  New Territories taxis, Lantau taxis and red minibuses will not be permitted to operate in the Control Area.

     Similar to the arrangement for Tsing Ma Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge, traffic restriction or prohibition will be imposed on the Stonecutters Bridge under strong wind conditions.  Affected traffic will be diverted to Route 3 and other alternative roads.  There will be appropriate temporary traffic signs and staff on-site to provide the necessary guidance to the affected motorists.

     To familiarise motorists with the use of the new Highway of Route 8, footages have been produced to provide guidance to drivers on the routings of travelling to the Airport or Sha Tin from different starting points.  These footages are now available on the websites of the TD (www.td.gov.hk) and the Highways Department (www.hyd.gov.hk).  Copies of the leaflet "Driving along Tsing Sha Highway" are available at the toll plaza of Lion Rock Tunnel, Shing Mun Tunnel, Tate's Cairn Tunnel and Lantau Link, TD's Licensing Offices, District Offices and some government car parks. People may also browse the TD's website for the leaflet and other relevant information.

     For enquiries, please call the TD hotline 2804 2600.

Ends/Friday, December 18, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:06

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