Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (November 16):
 
Question:
 
     Some residents of the North District have pointed out that the external traffic of the district relies heavily on Fanling Highway and Sha Tau Kok Road, with Kai Leng Roundabout and Sheung Shui Roundabout being the main transport interchanges.  As such, whenever traffic accidents occur at such roads and places (e.g. those occurred on January 11, September 13 and October 14 this year), the external traffic of the district will be paralysed.  On the other hand, a consultant commissioned by the North District Council published in January 2014 the draft report on the Survey on Vehicular Flow at Thoroughfares and Transportation Hubs In North District (the survey report), in which it put forward a number of suggestions for addressing the traffic congestion in the district.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has examined the main causes of the traffic accidents which occurred on the aforesaid dates; if it has examined, of the outcome, and whether any road design problem was involved; if so, whether the authorities will make improvements in this respect;
 
(2) whether it has drawn up contingency plans (including informing the relevant franchised bus companies and green minibus operators of road diversion arrangements) in light of the situation that traffic accidents paralyse the external traffic of the North District; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) given that some residents of the North District have pointed out that among the four entrances to Kai Leng Roundabout at present, the traffic at So Kwun Po Road southbound is very busy during the morning and afternoon rush hours on weekdays and traffic congestion frequently occurs there, of the authorities' measures to alleviate the problem;
 
(4) given that the survey report suggests that the number of carriageway on Po Shek Wu Road southbound into Tai Tau Leng Roundabout be increased from one to two, with a view to increasing the capacity of the roundabout by a maximum of about 25 per cent, whether the authorities will adopt the suggestion;
 
(5) as the survey report has pointed out that as both left-turn vehicular flow from Ma Sik Road into Sha Tau Kok Road northbound and right-turn vehicular flow from Sha Tau Kok Road southbound into Ma Sik Road are heavy, consideration can be given to changing the current methods in respect of controlling the traffic signals there in the short-term, so as to increase the capacity of the road junction concerned, whether the authorities will adopt the suggestion, and whether the authorities will draw up medium and long term measures to alleviate the traffic congestion in the area;
 
(6) whether it will consider building an elevated road linking Fanling South with Fanling Highway directly, so that vehicles travelling between Fanling South and Yuen Long need not pass through the various transport interchanges;
 
(7) whether it compiled statistics on the changes in vehicular flow in the North District in the past five years; if it did, of the details; of the number of traffic accidents in the North District in each of the past five years; and
 
(8) of the measures in place to prevent the recurrence of the situation that the external traffic of the North District is paralysed by traffic accidents; whether it will comprehensively review if the road network and infrastructural facilities for the external traffic of the North District are adequate to cope with the transport needs, and formulate short, medium and long term improvement plans; if it will, of the details?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     My reply to the various parts of the Hon Chan Hak-kan's question is as follows.
 
(1) According to the record of the Transport Department (TD), there were four traffic accidents involving casualties near Kai Leng Roundabout and Sheung Shui Roundabout on January 11, September 13 and October 14, 2016.  The Police's initial investigations revealed that the accidents were caused mainly by inattentive driving and dangerous driving, rather than road design problem.  The TD also confirms that the design of the road sections concerned is proper.

(2), (3) and (8) As regards the handling of traffic accidents, the TD has been maintaining close communication with public transport operators.  When there is persistent traffic congestion and a need for diversion after assessment, the TD will contact relevant operators immediately to make appropriate arrangements, including route diversion.  The Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the TD will also release the latest traffic news and give appropriate advice to the public through the media and mobile applications, so as to enable passengers to arrange their journeys accordingly and minimise the impact on passengers.

     To improve the road traffic in the North District, the Government is carrying out a number of road improvement projects thereat, including the construction of connecting road for Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point and widening of Fanling Highway.  The connecting road for Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, once completed, will effectively divert the existing traffic at Fanling Highway and Sha Tau Kok Road (Lung Yeuk Tau) and ease the pressure at the Kai Leng Roundabout and Tai Tau Leng Roundabout.  Moreover, upon the completion of widening of Fanling Highway, there will be an additional traffic lane to cope with higher traffic volume, which will improve the traffic condition at that section of Fanling Highway.  The above two improvement works will also help relieve congestion on local roads of the North District in case of traffic accidents happened on Fanling Highway.  These two projects are scheduled for completion by 2018 and 2019 respectively.
 
     The Government will also carry out a series of medium-term traffic improvement works at Lung Ma Road and Sha Tau Kok Road (Lung Yeuk Tau), which mainly include:
 
(i) widening of Lung Ma Road;
(ii) construction of an additional carriageway on Lung Ma Road turning to Sha Tau Kok Road;
(iii) widening of sections and junction at Sha Tau Kok Road;
(iv) widening of the junction at Ma Sik Road/Fan Leng Lau Road and adjusting the design of traffic light signals to increase the junction capacity;
(v) increasing the number of carriageway on Po Shek Wu Road southbound to improve the capacity of the entrance of Tai Tau Leng Roundabout; and
(vi) increasing the number of carriageway on So Kwun Po Road southbound to improve the capacity of the entrance of Kai Leng Roundabout.
 
     Apart from road improvement works, the TD will, depending on the traffic situation, implement suitable traffic management measures.  For example, to address the problem of lane changing activity at San Wan Road near MTR Sheung Shui Station, the TD will add solid-cum-broken white lines at the road sections concerned in December 2016.  To improve the traffic at the connecting roads of Kai Leng Roundabout, the TD is also carrying out local consultation on placing yellow box road markings at the junction of the connecting roads.
 
(4) The Government will add one carriageway on Po Shek Wu Road southbound onto Tai Tau Leng Roundabout in end-2016 to increase the capacity of the Roundabout.  The project is scheduled for completion in early 2019.
 
(5) The TD adjusted the traffic lights at the junction of Ma Sik Road and Sha Tau Kok Road and optimised the duration of green lights in September 2016 to increase the capacity of the junction.  Besides, the Government will widen a section of carriageway on Ma Sik Road turning left onto Sha Tau Kok Road and another section of carriageway on Sha Tau Kok Road turning left onto Ma Sik Road with a view to improving the traffic conditions at the above locations in the long run.
 
(6) Currently, there are spare capacity on Fanling Highway and at the major junctions and interchanges in the North District, which means the roads are capable of handling Fanling southbound traffic.  Thus, there is currently no need for a new elevated road directly linking Fanling South with Fanling Highway.  The TD will continue to monitor the traffic conditions of Fanling South closely, and will implement appropriate traffic management measures where necessary.
 
(7) Statistics on vehicular flow at the major roads and the number of traffic accidents in the North District over the past five years are set out at the Annex.  The figures show that the traffic flows at major roads in North District have generally been stable and acceptable during the past five years.  In view of the relatively noticeable growth in traffic flows on Sha Tau Kok Road, as a short-term improvement measure, the TD has adjusted the traffic lights on that road to cope with the vehicular flow.  Upon completion of the widening works at individual sections and junctions of Sha Tau Kok Road, the vehicular flow should improve further.  As mentioned in our reply to parts (2), (3) and (8) of the question above, the connecting road for Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point works project could effectively divert the existing traffic at Fanling Highway and Sha Tau Kok Road (Lung Yeuk Tau), and ease the pressure at Kai Leng Roundabout and Tai Tau Leng Roundabout.  Regarding the number of traffic accidents, the number of accidents in the past five years indicated a slight increase, with the majority of the accidents being minor ones (about 80 per cent of the total).

Ends/Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:30

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