Category: Road Safety
The end of the (closed) road
Hong Kong government decisions follow a well-worn path. A government agency endorses a dubious scheme cooked up by some self-serving committee, outcry ensues and after a token consultation the project goes ahead.
That has been the predictable course of the Transport Department plan to open South Lantau Road to non-residential traffic. While the extra 35 tourist buses and cars will have a small numerical imact on the current 2,500 or so vehicles on the road daily, the real effect is symbolic: it is no longer a closed road.
The TD statement makes it clear this is merely the start. When it promises to review the timetable for “the second phase” we can be sure that further phases will follow. The roads of Lantau, narrow and hazardous as they might be, are paved with gold for the developers, landowners and tourist industry hucksters that the government calls on for advice.
In this, as is almost routine, the government is well out of step with community opinion. Surveys by the Save Lantau Alliance, a green group, and the Friends of Lantau, led by District Council election candidate Lau King Cheung, both found well over 80% of local residents oppose any road opening. Continue reading
The case against opening S. Lantau roads
For a well-reasoned case on the problems of adding more traffic to South Lantau, read the Living Islands Movement (LIM) submission to the Transport Department.
The paper, published on its website, makes a series of points that have not been publicly addressed by the Transport Department.
For starters, it warns traffic is already growing quickly as a result of increased residential development and that police resources are stretched managing the existing vehicle volume. It reminds that the 2007 Lantau plan concluded that the area was not suitable for mass tourism and that in any case the main tourist sites at Ngong Ping and Tai O appear to be operating at close to capacity. Continue reading
Govt plan to open S. Lantau roads to non-residents
Here comes the flood. The Transport Department is planning to open up South Lantau roads to 50 non-resident vehicles and an extra 20 tourist coaches each weekday. According to this story in Sing Tao Daily on Monday, the department said it had come up with the proposal after “reassessing” the current closed road policy.
It doesn’t say what specifically was reassessed. But the government and its developer-centric advisory committee have made clear their determination to overturn decades of conservation and traffic management policies in their pursuit of a vision of “Lantau development” based on mass tourism. The 50-car limit seems to be a trial balloon. Continue reading
New police chief targets speedsters
The new Lantau South police chief, an ex-traffic cop, has made road safety one of his priorities. Among other things, he’s considering putting plainclothes police on NLB buses and cracking down on drivers without Lantau road permits. As reported, he’s not a fan of opening up South Lantau’s roads to more cars.
More details here at the LBA blog.
Closed road holding Lantau back: LanDAC
Lantau’s transport system is imploding: buses, ferries, taxis, roads and carparks are at breaking point on most days and are overwhelmed on public holidays.
But LanDAC, the government advisory committee comprised mainly of developers and tourism execs has decided Lantau’s problem is not enough visitors. They have recommended opening up South Lantau to all vehicles; the Transport Department is currently studying it.
Lantau Confidential 