Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan presided at yesterday's ground-breaking
ceremony for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Western Corridor.
Co-funded by the Shenzhen municipal government and the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the corridor will be the
fourth vehicular boundary crossing bridge between Shenzhen and Hong
Kong when it becomes operable in late 2005.
Investment on the part of the Shenzhen side is budgeted at 1.57
billion yuan (US$189 million), while Hong Kong's investment will be
HK$2.70 billion (US$346.15 million).
"As the only corridor connecting highways in the mainland, the
bridge is expected to boost the mutual development of Hong Kong and
the mainland, and particularly to further hone the competitive edge
of the Pearl River Delta region, including Hong Kong and Macao,"
said Huang Huahua, provincial governor of Guangdong.
The new bridge will also facilitate development of finance,
logistics and tourism, and better position Hong Kong as the hub of
the Pearl River Delta, Huang said.
His remarks were echoed by Tung Chee-hwa, HKSAR chief
executive.
In the wake of the signing of a CEPA (closer economic
partnership arrangement) and the successful sixth Guangdong-Hong
Kong joint conference earlier this month, economic and trade
co-operation between Hong Kong and the mainland has been
significantly upgraded, Tung said.
"The increasingly close communications between Hong Kong and the
mainland intensify the cross-boundary traffic demand, making a new
corridor essential," said Tung.
Shenzhen and Hong Kong are currently connected by three
vehicular boundary crossings.
Traffic volume has increased by 5 per cent on a year-on-year
basis over the past five years, and official statistics indicate an
average of 42,000 vehicles make the commute each day.
Daily traffic volume is expected to reach 65,000 vehicles in
2006 and the new bridge is expected to handle 80,000 daily, raising
the total capacity to 122,000.
The new bridge will be a dual three-lane carriageway with a
total length of about 5 kilometres. The Shenzhen section will be
1.8 kilometres and the Hong Kong section 3.2. The speed limit will
be set at 100 kilometres per hour.
On the Hong Kong side, the bridge will be extended by a
connecting road, Deep Bay Link. Construction of the HK$3.9 billion
(US$500 million) connection began in June.
According to Tung, the authorities of Hong Kong, Zhuhai and
Macao will soon initiate the preparatory work of another bridge
connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao to further improve traffic
conditions in the region.
(China Daily August 29, 2003)