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Naomi Lee

COMMUTERS could face long delays this morning with many roads remaining blocked by landslides and road collapses, and police predicting traffic tailbacks.

Special transport arrangements have been made to ease peak-hour congestion aggravated by the heavy rainfall.

Buses have been re-routed and police have urged motorists to use the MTR or KCR trains and other public transport to get to work.

 Additional bus routes have been arranged in the landslide-affected areas but commuters are advised to set off earlier than usual.

 Last night employers were asked to stagger working hours for staff living in areas affected by the road closures.

 Residents of the Peak, Repulse Bay, Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung areas have been particularly affected.

 Acting Governor Anson Chan Fang On-sang, who asked employers to allow their staff to leave early to avoid rush-hour traffic, commuted between her office in Lower Albert Road and her home on the Peak via Happy Valley.

The journey in her chauffeur-driven car took about 30 minutes longer than the usual one via Magazine Gap Road, which remains closed today due to a landslide.

One of her neighbours, US Consul-General Richard Mueller, had a day off yesterday.

 But another senior official at the US Consulate who lives on the Peak said he had to walk to the Peak Tram in a pair of hiking shoes to get to his office in Garden Road.

Landslips have also blocked parts of Peak Road, Stubbs Road and Tai Tam Road.

The closure of some parts of Tseung Kwan O Road, Clear Water Bay Road and Kwun Tong Road slowed traffic.

 One executive of STAR TV, Kenneth Kwok King-hung, who takes the company's shuttle bus from Clear Water Bay to his Hunghom office every day, said it took him about two hours, instead of one.

 The bus had to go via Tseung Kwan O after the closure of the Kowloon-bound lane on Clear Water Bay Road near Pik Uk Prison. 'There was really heavy traffic there in Tseung Kwan O,' said Mr Kwok. 'And along the way the driver had to dodge stones on the ground and branches of trees sticking out into the road.' Vehicles going into the Eastern Harbour Tunnel also experienced long delays.

Acting director of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, Chan Wai-kwan, called for a better traffic system and contingency plannning.

'After typhoons there are always blocked roads and long queues in the affected areas. But it wouldn't have been that bad if the road system was better designed,' said Mr Chan.

 He said the transport and trading sectors had been badly hit by the weather.



Rush-hour congestion warning