You can see the PDF file (http://www.td.gov.hk/FileManager/TC/Content_1089/nathan%20rd%20study%20(public%20consultation).pdf) for more details. I hope the new Nathan Road can be more green. :|

Bus, taxi drivers hit out at Mong Kok safety plans

The government's plan to spend HK$8 million to improve road safety along the Mong Kok section of busy Nathan Road has come under fire on day one of the public consultation exercise.

Wendy Leung
Hong Kong Standard
Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The government's plan to spend HK$8 million to improve road safety along the Mong Kok section of busy Nathan Road has come under fire on day one of the public consultation exercise.

The section between Mong Kok and Waterloo roads is a notorious accident blackspot.

Last year, there were 90 traffic accidents in the area, while other busy areas such as Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay had about 30 each.

In a bid to improve safety, the Transport Department has come up with three proposals for public discussion before a decision is made. The consultation exercise will end November 30.

Kicking off the exercise Monday, senior Transport Department engineer Chau San-ming said the high accident rate was mainly caused by pedestrians walking outside the pavements or ignoring traffic rules as well as the high volume of road traffic.

He said that all three plans call for the widening of footpaths. The first plan calls for partial footpaths to be widened. Under the second plan, motorcycles, private cars and goods vehicles will be not allowed to enter the section and some footpaths will be widened. Although this plan will cause inconvenience to private motorists, Chau said: "We have to balance road safety with the convenience of drivers."

In the third plan, the government will ban all vehicles except buses in the section, while all footpaths will be widened. Under this plan, taxis, minibuses, private cars and goods vehicles will all be prohibited from entering the area.

Chau said these vehicles will have to use the inner streets or Princess Margaret Road and the West Kowloon Highway to get to Tsim Sha Tsui or Cheung Sha Wan, adding that the actual number of affected vehicles is not high.

Chau repeatedly said the traffic situation along the inner streets is not really bad. However, the chairman of the Taxi and Public Light Bus Concern Group, Lai Ming-hung, said that if all vehicles are restricted to the inner streets of Mong Kok, there will be serious traffic jams, especially since these streets are now used by minibuses to pick up and drop off passengers.

A driver of a minibus running between Mong Kok and Tsuen Wan said it is unfair for the government to always give preference to buses.

"The Transport Department is underestimating the serious congestion that will result if minibuses are only allowed to use the inner streets like Shanghai Street," he said.

Another Mong Kok minibus driver, Ah Bo, said government officials should visit the area before drawing up plans.

"If they prohibit us from entering Nathan Road, I expect there will be the biggest minibus protest ever seen."

Ah Bo also said that if minibuses are forced to bypass Nathan Road by using Princess Margaret Road or the West Kowloon Highway, their fuel bills will go up by HK$5,000 to HK$6,000 a month. "How can we survive?" he asked.

Chow Shing, a newspaper vendor outside the London Restaurant for the past 20 years, said the new plans will not relieve traffic congestion.

"Taxis and minibuses are already not allowed to stop here. The problem is not them, it's the buses," Chow said.

A taxi driver waiting at the taxi stand outside Langham Place said if taxis are forced to use the inner streets only, it will increase their travel time by six or more minutes per journey.

"If there is also any traffic congestion, the waiting time will be even worse."

Wong Yin, who works for an insurance company, said the plan to widen footpaths is bad as this will only make traffic congestion worse.

News from Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK),

Bus only plan to reduce crashes in Mongkok section of Nathan Road 2005-11-01 HKT 03:14

The government is considering allowing only buses to use the Mongkok section of Nathan Road, because of the high number of serious crashes there. A Senior Transport Department engineer, Chau Sau ming, blamed the design of the road. He said this had contributed to an accident rate twenty times above the average.

Why don't they make the part of Nathan Road that is a heavy shopping area a "pedestrian-only" street like Nanjing Road or have it so that it is pedestrian-only on weekends like the Ginza.

It will paralyze the public transport system. So many bus routes go through Nathan Road and the sidestreets are too narrow to accomodate all that extra traffic.

Bus-only Nathan Road may not ride
Other options for reducing accident rate on Mongkok stretch will be considered first, planning official tells DAB
8 November 2005
South China Morning Post

A government proposal to make a section of Nathan Road bus-only to reduce accidents may be scrapped after strong protests from the public.

In a meeting with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong yesterday, a senior Transport Department official said it was unlikely the government would adopt the proposal in face of the opposition.

"It is for certain that [leaping straight for the biggest step] will not be appropriate, as the public demonstrated such a strong reaction," Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Technical Services Lau Ka-keung said.

The proposal was one of three put forward to reduce accidents to pedestrians on the stretch of road through Mongkok.

The focus in yesterday's talks with the DAB was on the feasibility of the least radical of the three proposals released by the government for public consultation last week.

Under that plan, no vehicles would be rerouted but pavements would be widened at Nathan Road's junctions with Shantung Street and Waterloo Road.

Some district councillors questioned even this plan's practicality.

"By enlarging the corners you are creating a bottleneck upon every intersection and leaving behind only two active lanes. More vehicles will switch lanes to overtake others and [this] may lead to even more accidents," said Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Edmond Chung Kong-mo. But Mr Lau disagreed.

"It is better for a slower vehicle to overtake a faster one than the other way around," he said. "The lane closest to the pedestrians is reserved for buses anyway, so it will always be the bus switching lanes, which is more manageable than letting the bus, which takes a longer time to brake, be overtaken by other vehicles."

More than three in five people questioned about the plans in a DAB survey said none of the proposals would have the desired effect. But one in five thought the bus-only plan was the best option.

Only 10 per cent favoured widening the pavements, while less than 6 per cent backed allowing buses, taxis and minibuses to use the road but rerouting trucks, motorcycles and private cars.

The DAB's Lau Kong-wah, chairman of the Legislative Council's transport panel, proposed the government consider removing obstacles from the pavements, including neon light advertisement boxes and goods piled up outside shops. The party also proposed relocating bus stops and ATMs to avoid large crowds gathering at particular points.

The three proposals are aimed at curbing the high accident rate - an average of 165 for every kilometre last year - on the section of Nathan Road between Mongkok Road and Waterloo Road. One-third of the accidents involved buses. The rate is 20 times that of an average road and three times that of other commercial areas.

It will paralyze the public transport system. So many bus routes go through Nathan Road and the sidestreets are too narrow to accomodate all that extra traffic.

So how does widening the sidewalks help out? If they want to decrease the number of accidents, they should just make it bus only or how about establishing a tram/monorail/ LRT on Nathan Road?

The three plans presented are not going to solve the traffic problem, but rather, they're intended to solve the pedestrian overcrowding problem.

So how does widening the sidewalks help out? If they want to decrease the number of accidents, they should just make it bus only or how about establishing a tram/monorail/ LRT on Nathan Road?

There are already FIVE MTR (HK's Metro) Stations, ie, Prince Edward, Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei, Jordon and Tsim Sha Tsui, on Nathan Road! It is absolutly impossible to establish tram/monorail/ LRT as there are not enough space on the road and they WOULD NOT be profitable to operate! :bash:

IMO, it is much better to minimise the number of buses on Nathan Road by extending the bus-bus interchange scheme among the three bus companies and fully using the buses. I have seen many buses on the Road which are only carry a few passengers. What a waste for the bus companies' resources! :ohno:

彌敦道三成車禍涉巴士
8 November 2005
明報

運署盼列為巴士專線 六成市民指不可取

【明報專訊】運輸署表示，現時平均每3宗在彌敦道發生的交通意外，就有1宗涉及巴士。運輸署希望透過早前提出的改善計劃3個方案，包括把彌敦道列為巴士專線，減少巴士與其他車輛爭路。署方又認為，擴闊行人路有助避免私家車及的士因超越停站巴士而胡亂切線。

去年每公里意外率高達165宗

運輸署數字顯示，窩打老道至旺角道的一段長0.8公里的彌敦道，去年每公里的意外率高達165宗，是同類型路面的兩倍以上。

運輸署副署長劉家強昨與民建聯副主席劉江華及一批油尖旺區議員會面時指出，現時在彌敦道發生的意外，三分一與巴士有關，私家車及的士則各佔四分一。

劉家強稱，外國研究發現，倘不同種類車輛如巴士、私家車及的士與行人爭路，造成意外的可能性相對較高，「因為巴士開得慢一點，爭路環境容易引致意外」。他希望透過減少路面上交通的種類，紓緩車輛爭路的衝突。

他又稱，現時彌敦道雖是三線設計，但由於巴士需要靠左停站，因此私家車及的士轉入橫街前，為了避過停站巴士而要左穿右插，顧問建議將巴士站前的行人過路線的彎位擴闊，形成「巴士彎」，日後巴士開離車站仍須向右切線，但其餘車輛毋須再向左切線亦可左轉入橫街。劉家強再次重申，運輸署對實施哪一個方案至今未有取向，即使實施亦會逐步推行，不會「一步到位」，「3個構思分為輕、中和重藥，我們一定會逐步推行，且會十分謹慎」。

政黨促加強檢控阻街店舖

另外，民建聯上周四至周六在旺角區訪問了1196名市民，結果發現62.9%受訪市民認為運輸署的方案並不可取，僅14.5%受訪市民認為可考慮在日間將彌敦道闢作巴士專線。民建聯要求運輸署加強檢控阻街店舖，包括阻塞行人路的銀行櫃員機、裝修工程等﹔擴闊行人過路設施﹔檢討巴士站的位置尺寸，以及考慮設置行人過路時間倒數器。

It will paralyze the public transport system. So many bus routes go through Nathan Road and the sidestreets are too narrow to accomodate all that extra traffic.

It would ruin the property value for yet to be built super malls if existing property is allowed increased pedestrian traffic associated with such schmes

K11
The One
I Square

http://topics.scmp.com/photos/557ab163180df210vgnvcm100000360a0a0abig.jpg

http://topics.scmp.com/photos/557ab163180df210vgnvcm100000360a0a0abig.jpg

:hahano: is that supposed to be funny?

It is satirical

It is satirical

Not very effective

With all those railings, it'll be quite hard for a pedestrian to get hit by a vehicle along the way ... unless the vehicle jumps the curb.

:hahano: is that supposed to be funny?

the pictures doesn't make sense, how can odds be express as 213-105.

I support a streetcar line running parallel to Nathan Road.

With all those railings, it'll be quite hard for a pedestrian to get hit by a vehicle along the way ... unless the vehicle jumps the curb.

it probably also the high mix of slow buses and fast cars. Bus only for4 hours a day would be simplest.