Pedestrian-friendly plan to cut speed limit in one of Hong Kong’s oldest districts slammed as ‘unrealistic’
- Transport Department chose Sham Shui Po as a trial location in hope of making it a more walkable area
- District councillors express reservations about reducing speed limit, worrying it will worsen traffic congestion and create more noise pollution
District councillors on Tuesday slammed an “unrealistic” proposal to put a 30km/h speed limit on roads in Sham Shui Po to make the district more pedestrian-friendly and raised fears of more traffic congestion.
The Transport Department chose the district, one of the city’s oldest, as one of two trial locations officials hoped to transform into more walkable areas.
One of the eight pedestrian-friendly initiatives proposed was to introduce a speed limit of 30km/h – as opposed to 50km/h for ordinary roads – at nine retail-heavy stretches between Yen Chow Street and Nam Cheong Street, as well as between Tai Po Road and Lai Chi Kok Road.
At a meeting on Tuesday, several Sham Shui Po district councillors expressed reservations about the move, worrying it would worsen traffic congestion and create more noise pollution.
“Some of these routes are used by buses and very busy already,” said Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, who is also a pro-establishment lawmaker.