The only time the Castle Peak Road project received any real attention was when former chief secretary Sir David Akers-Jones mounted a fight in the late 1990s to save his home in Tsing Lung Tau.
The house had to be demolished because it sat on a hill that the widened Castle Peak Road would cut through.
While Sir David appreciated the need to widen the road to provide relief for the Tuen Mun Highway, he was disappointed someone hadn't foreseen the project's damaging effect on the environment.
'If more money was spent on the environmental aspects of the Castle Peak Road project, then perhaps the end result would have been better and more in the public's interest,' said Sir David.
'Future plans will come under better scrutiny. But can we be sure? There's always a danger that things get too far advanced in the machinery of 'progress' before the public is made aware of what's happening.'