Kai Tak Tunnel

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Kai Tak Tunnel
Kai Tak Tunnel Ma Tau Kok Entrance 2018.jpg
Overview
Official nameKai Tak Tunnel
Other name(s)Airport Tunnel
LocationKowloon, Hong Kong
StatusActive
RoutePart of Route 5 HK Route5.svg
Start Ma Tau Kok
End Kowloon Bay
Operation
Opened29 June 1982;39 years ago (1982-06-29)
OperatorGreat Lucky Company Limited
TrafficVehicular
CharacterLimited-access
TollNo
Technical
No. of lanes 4 lanes (2 lanes per direction)
Operating speed70 kilometres per hour (43 mph)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 啟德隧道
Simplified Chinese 启德隧道
Jyutping Kai2 dak1 seoi6 dou6
Cantonese Yale Kái dāk seuih douh
Hanyu Pinyin Qǐdé Suìdào
Airport Tunnel
Traditional Chinese 機場隧道
Simplified Chinese 机场隧道
Jyutping Gei1 coeng4 seoi6 dou6
Cantonese Yale Gēi chèuhng seuih douh
Kai Tak Tunnel Kowloon Bay entrance Kai Tak Tunnel Kowloon Bay Entrance.jpg
Kai Tak Tunnel Kowloon Bay entrance

Kai Tak Tunnel, formerly known as the Airport Tunnel, is a tunnel in New Kowloon, Hong Kong, which connects the Kowloon Bay and Ma Tau Kok areas by going beneath the former Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak Airport). It is part of Route 5.

Contents

The tunnel provides a quick link between the two ends of the tunnel, as before the construction of the tunnel vehicles had to detour through Kowloon City to reach the other end. [1] [2] Kai Tak Tunnel is currently managed by Greater Lucky (H.K.) Company Limited.

History

Construction of the tunnel had started by 1975, [3] but because of the difficulties in digging under the airport runway, it was not complete until 1982. The southern tube opened to two-way traffic at 3:00 pm on 29 June 1982. [4] The second (northern) tube opened on 8 October that year. [5] The Airport Tunnel was the first tunnel in Hong Kong to be toll-free, [2] excluding short underpasses.

With Kai Tak Airport's shutdown in 1998, the Airport Tunnel was no longer fulfilled to its name. The Hong Kong Government announced to rename to Kai Tak Tunnel on 2 March 2006 that the tunnel, effective from 4 May 2006, after several years of consultation with groups including the Kowloon City District Council. The name was changed to commemorate the former Kai Tak International Airport. [6]

Features

The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes of about 7 metres diameter each, 1.26 km long. The southern tube carries west-bound traffic from Kowloon Bay to Ma Tau Kok. A point of interest is that the eastbound tunnel branches off onto Sung Wong Toi Road. [7] It is the only major vehicular tunnel in Hong Kong built entirely by the cut-and-cover technique. [2]

Many major express bus routes of Kowloon Motor Bus and New World First Bus between Kowloon and the eastern end of New Kowloon travel through the Kai Tak Tunnel. Most of them run between the Kwun Tong District or Sai Kung District and Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom. They include 13X, 213X, 224X, 98D, 98P, 14X, 215X, 219X, 296D, 297, 796P. Westbound departures of routes 11X and 28 and peak hour cross harbour tunnel bus route 101X and Hong Kong High Speed Rail feeder bus route W2, also runs through Kai Tak Tunnel. In total, an estimated 60000 vehicles use the tunnel each day. [7]

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Kai Tak Development Redevelopment of the former Kai Tak Airport site in Hong Kong

The Kai Tak Development, abbreviated as "KTD" and formerly called South East Kowloon Development (東南九龍發展計劃), refers to the redevelopment of the former Kai Tak Airport site in Kai Tak, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Citybus Route 20

Kowloon Urban Route No. 20 is a Hong Kong bus route operated by Citybus, plying between Kai Tak and Tai Kok Tsui.

References

  1. Hong Kong - Streets and Districts (香港街道與地區) (1978), Lands Department, HKSAR.
  2. 1 2 3 Hong Kong Yearbook 1999, HKSAR.
  3. "Hong Kong (& Macau) Film Stuff: The Man from Hong Kong - Wang Yu (1975) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon". 31 May 2015.
  4. ""Bubbly" opening for airport tunnel". South China Morning Post. 30 June 1982. p. 16.
  5. "Airport tunnel fully operational at last". South China Morning Post. 7 October 1982. p. 17.
  6. Airport Tunnel renamed as Kai Tak Tunnel - Hong Kong Government press release. Retrieved on May 29, 2008.
  7. 1 2 Hong Kong Guide 2006, Survey and Mapping Office, HKSAR.
Preceded by
Kai Fuk Road
Hong Kong Route 5
HK Route5.svg
Kai Tak Tunnel
Succeeded by
East Kowloon Corridor

Coordinates: 22°19′27.49″N114°11′37.66″E / 22.3243028°N 114.1937944°E / 22.3243028; 114.1937944