Smooth start for Hong Kong’s fully opened Central-Wan Chai Bypass on first working day, with minor jams at tunnel entrance
- Taxi drivers report increase in business as commuters opt for shorter journey times on the road over crowded MTR
The multibillion-dollar Central-Wan Chai Bypass got off to a smooth start on Monday morning, the first working day after it fully opened, despite some minor jams at the entrance of the Western Harbour Tunnel.
Drivers said generally the traffic in the heart of Central and Wan Chai had improved after the second and final phase of the HK$36 billion (US$4.6 billion) link became operational. The bypass reduces the half-hour journey for motorists to just six minutes from North Point to Western district.
“This morning when I was travelling westbound along Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, traffic was completely smooth. There was no congestion at all. In the past, vehicle queues would stretch to City Garden [estate] in North Point,” said Cheung Chi-kwan, deputy chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi Owners Association.
The bypass, finished after nearly 10 years of construction plagued by delays and cost overruns, was partially opened to traffic last month.
The 4.5km link is made up of a flyover in Central and a 3.7km tunnel. It is expected to ease congestion between North Point and Central, particularly on Gloucester Road, Harcourt Road and Connaught Road Central.
After the full commissioning on Sunday, drivers from North Point can now use the bypass to travel directly to Western district or the Western Harbour Tunnel through the Rumsey Street Flyover, without having to first make a U-turn to Connaught Road Central, which sometimes caused traffic jams.