Town Planning Board notes traffic concerns, but approves $1.3b scheme
The $1.3 billion expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai was given approval yesterday despite concerns it will add to traffic congestion. Work will start in January.
The extension of the centre's atrium was approved by the Town Planning Board with a number of conditions.
Ling Chi-tack, the board's chief town planner, said: 'The main concern for our board members is the traffic impact of the expanded exhibition hall. The Trade Development Council will have to submit further information on its logistic arrangements.'
The Trade Development Council has said traffic conditions in the area will not be adversely affected because building work will be contained inside the venue. Large construction items would also be transported by sea and there would be no reclamation work involved in the project.
'We have now found a way forward without reclamation. In doing so, we also achieve extraordinary leveraging of Hong Kong's previous investment in the Convention and Exhibition Centre by proceeding on the basis of existing space and infrastructure,' council chairman Peter Woo Kwong-ching said.
Worsening traffic congestion in the area has been a key concern because container trucks usually clog the streets before and after an exhibition to transport equipment in and out of the venue. The council said there would be no need for additional roads as a result of the new exhibition space.
