Special traffic and transport arrangements for Sunday Marathon

Road closures and traffic diversions involving roads on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, as well as over 100 bus and minibus routes will be implemented this Sunday (February 24) to facilitate the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.

A Transport Department (TD) spokesman today (February 22) reminded members of the public to plan early for their journeys to avoid delay caused by diversion of bus and minibus routes in the morning and early afternoon on that day. He added that parking spaces, car parks, as well as bus, minibus and taxi stops on the road sections concerned would be temporarily suspended.

Members of the public can note details of bus route diversions and bus stop suspension or relocation from TD homepage http://www.info.gov.hk/td/eng/notice/specialtravel/specialtravel_index.html

"We will be closely monitoring the traffic situation this Sunday and adjustments will be made whenever necessary," the spokesman said.

The southbound tube of the Western Harbour Tunnel will be closed immediately after midnight until the reopening of the affected roads. Drivers should make use of the other two cross-harbour tunnels from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.

Ting Kau Bridge (southbound) and upper deck of Lantau Link (Kowloon bound) of the Tsing Ma Control Area will be closed between midnight to about 3 pm, but will be re-opened for franchised buses only from 1 pm. The closure, however, will not affect traffic heading for the Airport and Lantau.

Motorists from Lantau heading for Kowloon have to travel via the lower deck of Lantau Link and those heading for Tuen Mun or Yuen Long via the lower deck of Lantau Link, Ting Kau Bridge, Tuen Mun Road and Tai lam Tunnel.

Traffic from Tuen Mun or Yuen Long heading for Lantau will be diverted to travel via Tuen Mun Road, Tsuen Wan Road, Tsing Tsuen Road, Tsing Yi North Coastal Road and slip roads of Lantau Link before reaching the Link.

While traffic from Kowloon heading for Tuen Mun or Yuen Long will remain unaffected, traffic from the opposite direction will have to be diverted via Tuen Mun Road, Tsuen Wan Road and Kwai Chung Road.

Road closure in western Kowloon will be carried out in four phases starting from the midnight. Affected roads/sections include West Kowloon Highway (south bound), Nathan Road, Kimberley Road, Granville Road, Canton Road, Shanghai Street, Temple Street, Austin Road and Hillwood Road.

Road closure on Hong Kong Island will start right after midnight. Affected roads include Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road, Tim Mei Avenue, Lung Wui Road and a few roads in the vicinity of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

End/Friday, February 22, 2002