Traffic in Tuen Mun will get very crowded after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge opens in 2016 because the construction of two link roads meant to siphon off vehicles will be delayed, lawmakers were told yesterday.
Undersecretary for Transport and Housing Yau Shing-mu told a Legislative Council session that work on two key roads - the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link and Tuen Mun Western Bypass - had been delayed by a legal challenge to the bridge's environmental assessment process. The roads will link the bridge and Chek Lap Kok airport with the northwestern New Territories and the mainland via Shenzhen Bay.
The link between Tuen Mun and Chek Lap Kok - which was supposed to open at the same time as the bridge - will be a year behind schedule, Yau told lawmakers.
All efforts were being focused on completing the bridge on schedule, he said.
But without the link, the Sham Tseng section of the Tuen Mun Highway is expected to be very congested in 2017, he said.
'Without the link, the vehicle-per-capacity ratio [VC ratio] of that section will be 1:25. It will be slashed to 1.18 after the link opens,' he said.
A VC ratio of 1.2 or above indicates congestion.