District councillors, residents and transport experts agree that traffic jams on roads in Central will become worse in coming years.

They expect Hollywood Road, Wellington Street and Aberdeen Street to be the hardest hit.

The 35-storey, 162-bed Lan Kwai Fong Hotel in Aberdeen Street will open at the end of this year, while Kom Tong Hall near Staunton Street, which houses the Sun Yat-sen Museum, will open late next year.

Central and Western District Councillor Kam Nai-wai expects the museum will attract many tourists, particularly in the first few months after it opens. He said the government had not told the council of any traffic contingency plan.

'The one that will be most affected will be Hollywood Road, which is already very congested all the time. Wellington Street is another,' said Mr Kam, who has lived in Central for 44 years.

He said potential traffic problems caused by the developments would be discussed at council meetings.

He also questioned the government's planned urban renewals in Staunton and Graham streets.

'Urban renewal is supposed to improve locals' quality of life. But in the case of Central, where all the developments are crowded together, the renewal seems to lower quality of life for the residents,' he said, citing traffic jams.

The renewals will start before or in 2007 with the demolition of 45 dilapidated buildings in Staunton Street and 40 in Graham Street.

Hung Wing-tat, a transport expert from Polytechnic University, warned that the traffic congestion created by the projects could hurt later developments. 'The Transport Department will have to take into account any traffic problems created by the developments before approving new projects, including urban renewals.'

He said solutions included limiting the number of car parks and street parking spaces in Central, and building escalators linking the area to the nearby Sheung Wan MTR station.

'But Central is the main business area and car parks are needed because big bosses are not going to take public transport,' he added.

Long-time resident Roger Ho Yao-sheng believed the district's recent developments would 'paralyse' local traffic.

Major Central roads were now more congested than ever and he attributed this to the increase in the number of residential buildings in nearby Caine and Bonham roads.

'It takes me 25 minutes for a minibus trip from Caine Road to Admiralty on normal days. The trip should take about 10 minutes if there is no congestion,' he said, adding that the air quality in Central was poor.

The Transport Department said it was too busy with meetings to comment.

Meanwhile, Mr Kam said the Central and Western District Council, along with the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and the Conservancy Association, were gauging public opinion on the future of the former Central police station in Hollywood Road.

He said their position paper, which was earmarked for submission to the government, would be made public next month.