T&TC Paper No. 35/ 2012 (for discussion on 12.11.2012)

Southern District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Temporary Traffic Management Schemes of (East)

Background

Implementation of the major Temporary Traffic Management Schemes (TTMSs) of the South Island Line (East) was presented to the Traffic and Transport Committee of Southern District Council by circulation of paper for reference at its meeting on 17 September this year. This paper provides updates on the required TTMSs in the vicinity of Aberdeen Tunnel Toll Plaza and in areas near Ocean Park, , Lei Tung, Main Street in , and , as well as its impacts to the community plus the proposed monitoring of the traffic conditions to the Traffic and Transport Committee.

Overview of implementation

2. Major TTMSs implemented as at November 2012 under the SIL(E) project include: temporary arrangement at Ocean Park Road and the roundabout, the temporary eastward shifting of a section of the Road and Police School Road, temporary traffic arrangement at Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road and Ap Lei Chau Drive, as well as the temporary partial closure of a section of Yi Nam Road and Lee Nam Road with associated traffic diversion.

3. Major TTMSs will continue to be implemented for the next 6 months including: temporary eastward shifting of a section of Nam Long Shan Road and Police School Road to facilitate nullah construction, temporary diversion of the junction of Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road and Ap Lei Chau Drive, and the on-going partial closure of Lee Nam Road and Yi Nam Road in South Horizons.

4. The Corporation has maintained regular communication with members of the Community Liaison Groups regarding the implemented and envisaged TTMSs for further improvement as necessary. Traffic conditions of the concerned roads after implementation are good in general.

Aberdeen Tunnel toll plaza and Ocean Park area

5. Dual two-lane traffic at in the vicinity of Aberdeen Tunnel Toll Plaza will continue to be implemented in phases intermittently at night-time for viaduct construction during the second half of 2012. Please refer to Appendix 1A for details.

1 6. Temporary and intermittent road closure at the slip road leading from the Aberdeen Tunnel to and the Wong Chuk Hang Road flyover to the Aberdeen Tunnel during night time will continue to be implemented in phases in the second half of 2012. Please refer to Appendix IB & C for details.

Nam Fung Tunnel Portal

7. The blasting for Nam Fung tunnel commenced in August this year. Road closure is not required.

8. Part of the pedestrian path at the junction of Nam Fung Road and Nam Fung Path, and a section of the footpath on Nam Fung Road near the junction, would remain temporarily narrowed for drainage and cabling works. Uphill lanes of Nam Fung Road are to be temporarily reduced to one-lane for temporary support works for water mains. The above arrangement will last until the fourth quarter of 2012. Please refer to Appendix IIA & IIB for details.

9. The roundabout near Wong Chuk Hang Complex at Nam Fung Path has been temporarily closed for viaduct construction works and will last until end of 2012. Dual two-lane traffic will be maintained. Meanwhile, the footpath leading from the bus stop at Wong Chuk Hang Road to Nam Fung Path has been temporarily diverted in August to make way for the viaduct construction. Pedestrians can use the temporary footpath within the Wong Chuk Hang Complex. This arrangement will be maintained until December 2012. For details please refer to Appendix IIIA and IIIB.

Ocean Park Road, Wong Chuk Hang and Nullah

10. Temporary traffic diversion will continue to be implemented until 2013 in phases for viaduct construction and underground utility works along a section of Ocean Park Road between Aberdeen Sports Ground and the Citybus Depot. Dual-lane carriageway and the traffic arrangement at the existing Ocean Park Road roundabout will be maintained. Meanwhile, temporary closure of the sections of private road between Ocean Park Road and the entrance of the Ocean Park will continue to be implemented in stages.

11. One-lane traffic is being maintained on Heung Yip Road to facilitate the foundation works of Wong Chuk Hang Station Entrance A and nullah modification works. The arrangement is expected to last until early 2014.

12. A section of Police School Road at its junction with Heung Yip Road has been temporarily shifted eastward in early October 2012 while temporary shifting of a section of Nam Long Shan Road eastward at its junction with Heung Yip Road is carried out by end of October 2012. These two road diversion will last until the third quarter of 2013 to facilitate demolition works on the existing road bridges and the subsequent nullah reconstruction works. The number of carriageways and vehicular traffic will be maintained while the footpath will be diverted in stages. Please refer to Appendix IVA & IVB for details.

2 13. Part of the northbound carriageway adjacent to Nam Long Shan Road Sitting-out Area is temporarily closed at night time for underground utility works starting from August 2012. This arrangement is expected to last until December 2012. The pedestrian access to Tai Wong Ye Temple is temporarily narrowed for nullah improvement works. The pedestrian access adjacent to Leader Centre leading from Wong Chuk Hang Road to Yip Kan Street is temporarily closed in phases for construction of the footbridge connecting Heung Yip Road and Wong Chuk Hang Road. Pedestrian access to Yip Kan Street is temporarily diverted to the junction with Wong Chuk Hang Road.

14. In connection with the construction of the viaduct and associated slope works, a portion of the footpath near Tai Wong Ye Temple and a footpath and staircase adjacent to the Holy Seminary Spirit in Wong Chuk Hang will continue to be temporarily closed until 2015.

Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road and Lei Tung

15. Partial road closure of Ap Lei Chau Drive is being implemented for cable diversion works. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic will be maintained and diverted where necessary. The junction of Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road and Ap Lei Chau Drive has been diverted since June 2012. Vehicular and pedestrian access to Ap Lei Chau Drive and Lei Tung Estate Road are maintained. Signalized junctions are also provided at relevant junctions. The Corporation and relevant Government Departments will keep monitoring the traffic conditions and adopt improvement measures as necessary. The above arrangement will last until 2014. Please refer to Appendix VA and VB for details.

16. To facilitate the construction of the station entrance and the associated works outside Lei Tung Commercial Centre, part of Lei Tung Estate Road adjacent to Phase 1 of the Centre has been temporarily diverted and a few bus lanes at the existing bus terminus have been temporarily relocated to the new bus terminus opposite to Tung Hing House starting from August 2012. The above-mentioned arrangement will last until the first half of 2014. Temporary road closures for periods of 3 to 5 minutes at a section of Lei Tung Estate Road for shaft blasting at Lei Tung Entrance B will be implemented in the end of 2012 / first half of 2013. Please refer to Appendix VIA and VIB for details.

Main Street, Ap Lei Chau

17. The excavation works with temporary pipe-piling for construction of Entrance A of at Main Street, Ap Lei Chau are in progress. Utility ducts installation works and road improvement works at the junction of Main Street, Ap Lei Chau and Wah Ting Street were completed.

3 South Horizons

18. Construction of is in progress at Yi Nam Road, Lee Nam Road and South Horizons Drive. Associated TTMSs are being implemented in phases.

19. A section of Yi Nam Road between its junction with Lee Nam Road and the existing Public Transport Interchange has been closed to all vehicular traffic since November 2011. The junction is expected to be re-opened to vehicular traffic accessing to Yi Nam Road from Lee Nam Road in early 2013 based on the current site progress. The junction will become temporarily signalized and the design is being reviewed with Transport Department.

20. The footpath and carriageway on the section of Yi Nam Road near Phase III and IV of South Horizons will be temporarily diverted in phases during the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013. The bus terminus at South Horizons is accessible by franchised buses and Public Light Bus from Yi Nam Road while vehicular traffic is allowed access to South Horizons Drive from Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road via Yi Nam Road. Please refer to Appendix VII for details.

21. Dual two-lane traffic on a section of Lee Nam Road adjacent to Block 23A and Phase IV, South Horizons will be maintained.

22. One-way, one-lane traffic at the section of Yi Nam Road between Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road and Marina Square East Centre leading only to South Horizons Drive except for some bus routes. This arrangement has been implemented since November 2011 and will last until mid 2013. Please refer to Appendix VII for details.

23. Temporary road closures for periods of 3 to 5 minutes at a section of Lee Nam Road for the open blast works at Yuk Kwai Shan are expected to be implemented starting from the August 2012 to the second half of 2013.

24. The temporary road closure arrangement for installation of conveyor truss at Lee Nam Road adjacent to the School of Motoring was completed. The conveyor belt system was also in operation starting from October 2012.

Traffic monitoring report

25. TTMSs have been implemented along the SIL(E) to maintain traffic and pedestrian flow, as well as public safety while the construction progresses. The design of TTMS takes into consideration public’s need on road use and the demand on public transport, the existing traffic condition, the need of construction, as well as statutory requirement. The Corporation has been monitoring the traffic condition of major roads below since the construction started last year and the traffic condition these roads is generally acceptable over the last 17 months. y Ocean Park Roundabout and roads nearby y Junction between Nam Long Shan Road and Police School Road / Shum Wan Road

4 y Junction between Nam Long Shan Road and Heung Yip Road / Wong Chuk Hang Road y Junction between Ap Lei Chau Drive and Ap Lei Chau Bridge Rd/ Lei Tung Estate Road

26. The traffic monitoring report on the Wong Chuk Hang area is at Appendix VIII. At Ocean Park Roundabout, slow traffic was observed near the Ocean Park Road Roundabout both in the morning and afternoon school peak at 0715-0815 and 1430-1530. The situation does not happen during school holidays. Traffic queue up situation at the junctions between Nam Long Shan Road and Police School Road / Sham Wan Road and between Nam Long Shan Road and Heung Yip Road / Wong Chuk Hang Road were better than last school year. MTR Corp will continue to monitor the traffic situation at Ocean Park Roundabout and review the situation when there is a change to the TTMS or traffic condition.

27. The traffic condition of Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road has been satisfactory after the temporary diversion of the junction of Ap Lei Chau Bridge Road / Ap Lei Chau Drive on 29 June 2012.

28. Some real-time traffic cameras of the Transport Department are in place to help us monitor the traffic conditions, assisted by photo records. Real-time records of traffic are considered an effective means of monitoring given that TTMSs are being changed from time to time and these records will help us to respond in a timely manner to the actual traffic conditions. The Corporation will continue to closely monitor the traffic conditions and improve the schemes as necessary.

Conclusion

29. The MTR Corporation will work closely with relevant Government Departments and will maintain close liaison with local stakeholders in order to minimize the traffic impact in the district during the construction of SIL(E) and the implementation of TTMS, and to ensure the safety of road users.

MTR Corporation November 2012

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