HK will seek Beijing's approval for a Y-shaped bridge to Zhuhai and Macau

The building of a 29km bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau is set to be recommended to Beijing by the Hong Kong government.

The Y-shaped bridge would run from north of Tai O on Lantau Island to Macau and Zhuhai under proposals being finalised by the government feasibility study team. Traffic using it to reach Hong Kong would have easy access to Chek Lap Kok airport and the rest of the SAR.

The administration is planning to build a logistics centre next to the bridge's Hong Kong landing point to allow goods arriving from the mainland to be processed there. It is also considering whether container terminals should be built on Lantau or in Tuen Mun, and if so, whether existing ones should be relocated there.

A source close to the feasibility study team said the bridge would improve Hong Kong's position as a logistics hub in Asia. It would also enhance Hong Kong's links with counties in the western part of Guangdong, such as Zhongshan and Jiangmen, and open the possibility of a 1,000km drive from the SAR to Vietnam.

The source said an alternative proposal that there should be an additional link to Shekou in Shenzhen would prove to be too long, too expensive and unnecessary, because the Western Corridor linking Shekou and Yuen Long would be ready in 2005.

The additional link has been proposed by the 2022 Foundation, which is backed by large companies including Sun Hung Kai Properties, Kerry Group, Li & Fung (1937) and CLP Holdings, and would cost about $30 billion. The government proposal, to be revealed in the next few weeks, is similar to the one proposed by Hopewell Holdings chairman Gordon Wu Ying-sheung.

Sir Gordon has estimated that the project would cost about $15 billion and take three years to complete, with at least 10,000 vehicles a day using the bridge initially.