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TD concerned over illegal acts in contravention of traffic ordinance caused by protests
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     The Transport Department (TD) today (October 28) said that, according to the Police's information, people were found climbing over the half-metre high central dividers at roads being illegally occupied and blocked with barriers by protesters with a view to crossing the roads. The TD reminded members of the public that such behaviour is very dangerous and may cause serious accidents.

     The TD also noted that some traffic lights were again found to be covered with patterns, causing interference to motorists. Regarding occupation activities leading to irregularities in contravention of traffic regulations, including tampering with traffic facilities, people getting off vehicles in the middle of carriageways during traffic congestion and climbing over central dividers to cross blocked roads, the TD expressed concern and reiterated that members of the public must abide by the traffic ordinance to avoid putting the safety of themselves and other road users at risk. Protesters are urged again to peacefully retreat from illegally occupied roads to let the traffic return to normal.

     Since major trunk roads on Hong Kong Island such as Harcourt Road are still illegally occupied, traffic on Gloucester Road westbound heading for Central and Lung Wo Road eastbound is still busy and congested with traffic queues. The Police will continue to implement temporary traffic control measures to divert traffic flow according to the traffic situation. Motorists should pay attention to the arrangements and follow the instructions of the Police at the scene.

     As special traffic and transport arrangements will be implemented for the horse racing meeting in Happy Valley tomorrow night (October 29), it is anticipated that traffic will be very busy with increased traffic load on Hong Kong Island during peak hours in the evening. Members of the public are advised to use public transport as far as possible and avoid driving to Hong Kong Island.

     Regarding public transport services, a total of 225 bus routes are still affected today with eight bus routes suspended and 217 bus routes diverted. Among the affected bus routes, 85 routes travelling via Mong Kok are diverted due to the closure of a number of road sections in Mong Kok. A total of 20 green minibus routes travelling via Harcourt Road, Nathan Road and Argyle Street are still diverted or suspended or with service adjusted. Currently, the tram service between Percival Street and Paterson Street is still suspended. The MTR Corporation Limited continues to increase services for all urban lines to cope with passenger demand.

     The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will continue to monitor the road traffic situation and public transport services. For details of road closure, traffic diversion, suspension and route diversion of green minibus services, please refer to the TD's website (www.td.gov.hk). Regarding temporary traffic arrangements for bus routes, please refer to the following bus companies' websites for details:

     For routes of Citybus and New World First Bus: www.nwstbus.com.hk/en/uploadedFiles/OC2014/TAA.htm¡@

     For routes of Kowloon Motor Bus: www.kmb.hk/en¡@

     As there will be updates on bus services from time to time due to traffic changes, members of the public are advised to pay attention to the latest service arrangements announced by bus companies before starting their journeys.

Ends/Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:34

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