Heritage fears stall Central-Kowloon link
Hong Kong Standard
Michael Ng
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Fearing a repeat of the clashes between police and protesters over the demolition of the old Star Ferry pier, lawmakers have rejected a HK$99 million funding request for an engineering study on the Central-Kowloon route project without a guarantee that the 80-year-old Yau Ma Tei police station will not be torn down.

The Legislative Council's public works subcommittee said Tuesday it was still not happy with the Highways Department's realignment plan for the project because it was worried the police station and the popular adjacent Jade Market might suffer the same fate as that of the iconic pier in Central.

The department's revised plan calls for the length of the trunk road and a dual three-lane tunnel to be increased to 4.7 kilometers and 3.8 kilometers, respectively.

The department said extra funding of HK$93.9 million is required to meet increased costs for consultancy design and site investigation.

But most members of the public works subcommittee have expressed grave concern over the proposed realignment as it would affect the police station. The government also remains uncertain whether the historic building would have to go and the Jade Market relocated.

Legislators from both the pan- democrat camp and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions vowed not to approve the funding request if the government could not guarantee the police station would be preserved.

"The government's practice of deciding on the details of an infrastructural project before considering preservation of affected buildings is obviously out of date," said former Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat.

"With the community having high aspirations for the preservation of heritage buildings, I hope the government will withdraw this document and ensure all the design plans will not affect the historic police station."

Unionist lawmaker Chan Yuen-han was concerned that, if the funding was approved without a pledge from the government not to tear down the police station, there would be a repeat of last week's ugly confrontation between police and protesters trying to halt the demolition of the old Star Ferry pier.

"We're not unwilling to grant this fund. But, frankly speaking, I don't have much confidence in the government," Chan said.

Director of Highways Wai Chi-sing said the realignment plan was just an initial one and that the department needed the money to conduct further studies, including whether it was necessary to demolish the police station.

"What I can assure you of today is that the preservation of this historic structure is the starting point of our work. But whether it can be preserved depends on how the structure will be affected by the construction work. We'll return to the council and consult the public," Wai said.

"But if our funding request is turned down today, the project will be stalled and cannot proceed."

However, Wai's plea failed to please legislators, who threw out the funding request by seven votes to five.

The Democratic Party's Yeung Sum said the government should include detailed information concerning the conservation of the historic structure and future land-use plans in any document to be submitted to Legco in the future.

The proposed Central-Kowloon route would connect Yau Ma Tei and Kai Tak and is expected to be completed in 2016.

Offical Description of the project:
http://www.hyd.gov.hk/eng/major/road/projects/6461th/index.htm

Looking at the concept plan, it looks like it will be a lot easier to build with cut-and-cover in Yau Ma Tei since it is so close to the interchange. I think this is what the government wants now.

But I don't think it is impossible to build with underground tunneling as long as the project can provide enough support to the building above ground. I mean the Big Dig in Boston is done in a similar way. Of course it does cost more money and time; but it saves the heritage above ground.

I thought the Big Dig was cut and cover. Didn't they close off that part of the highway in the downtown core, dug the viaduct, then covered it up with a park on top?

I thought the Big Dig was cut and cover. Didn't they close off that part of the highway in the downtown core, dug the viaduct, then covered it up with a park on top?

No. Big Dig started off at off-site and tunneled under existing structures providing support on the top and ran across downtown area. All the existing highways, major roadways, the T (subway), and Amtrak were kept opened during the construction. If there was a need to shut down any road, it was done in the evening and reopened in the day. Some side streets were closed but not major and could be detoured. The existing roadway and above ground highway will be converted into a park upon the underground roadway is completed.

Big part of the project has completed. I haven't been in Boston for almost a year now, don't know what is the status now. But the project went in some drainage and underground water problem earlier this year.

There're many limitations for using cut-and-cover in YMT. 1, Narrow streets like Kansu St and Public Square St. 2, Historic Buildings like YMT Police Station and the Tin Yau Temple. 3, The current Gascoigne Road Bridge goes through the YMT Carpark Building and makes it hard to keep both. 4, There're MTR tunnels on the Nathan Road.

Therefore, it is more possible for diging deep tunnels for maintaining the current views.

I believe the YMT Garage is going down in the plan and possibly Gascoigne Bridge.

i just looked at the pdf proposal and google earthed that area. it is very dense. you guys are talking about "cut and cover" as a building stratigy, does that mean they will destroy all the buildings along that path. there are a few in the center that seem to be very new and large. couldnt they just completly tunnel under the area?

are there not already freeways serving the area?

why are they planing a freeway so late in the development of hong kong, i would assume that from now on it should be high traffic mass transit they would be focusing on

i just looked at the pdf proposal and google earthed that area. it is very dense. you guys are talking about "cut and cover" as a building stratigy, does that mean they will destroy all the buildings along that path. there are a few in the center that seem to be very new and large. couldnt they just completly tunnel under the area?

It would only pull down a few for this project! As firstly, Homantin and King's Park are mountains, they don't have to pull down the buildings for tunnels. Secondly, it is more possible to use the TBMs for diging tunnels to minimize the side-effects on surface.

The place might use cut and cover would be in Yau Ma Tei, where they have to connect the bridges to the West Kowloon Highway. This made the controversies as the historical Yau Ma Tei Police Station and the Tin Hau Temple are located there.

are there not already freeways serving the area?

why are they planing a freeway so late in the development of hong kong, i would assume that from now on it should be high traffic mass transit they would be focusing on

There're no direct freeways from the East and West Kowloon and that's why the Gov't planned this project in the late 1990s. This plan come late because there was no new reclamated land until the mid-1990s and the Gov't encourged citizens to use the MTR.

The concept has been around for decades, but there was no land to built anything since all development in Kowloon happened way before there is a need of a east-west connection. Yau Ma Tai, To Kwai Wan and Kowloon City are old community. The proposed interchanges are on newly reclaimed land in the 90s and the old Kai Tak Int'l Airport.

The thing is the government looks at all the existing government owned buildings, take them down and build the road from those sites.

thank you hkth for the clarification. i thought that would be a very strange thing to do.

hope this works out well for hong kong

this post seems nice .

廢氣排放口移位 遠離民居600米
中九幹線隧道頂綠化
16/03/2008
http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/img/endmarker.gif

【本報訊】政府決定興建的中九龍幹線經過三輪公眾諮詢後，路政署接納居民意見並讓步，將油麻地段原訂計劃的隧道出入口及廢氣排放出口位置遷移，新選址將分別遠離民居超過三百米及六百米。當局亦承諾會研究在隧道出入口分別加建園景上蓋，提供綠化空間，以及在加士居道天橋重建部分設置隔音屏障，以減少途經車輛對附近居民造成的廢氣及噪音滋擾。

為了紓緩中九龍東西行的擠塞情況，政府擬耗資一百億元興建全長四點七公里的中九龍幹線，其中三點八公里將以隧道形式興建。路政署截至昨日已舉辦了三輪公眾諮詢論壇，收集意見，路政署總工程師周進華昨出席第三輪公眾論壇時指出，幹線（油麻地段）的隧道口及通風口原本計劃設置在渡船街以西的位置，但惹來不少居民的反對及抗議，故當局作出三項修訂，包括將隧道口遷移至海泓道，而通風口則遷移至油麻地交匯處，以做到遠離民居。

他又指出，當局計劃採用園景上蓋覆蓋隧道出入口，廣種樹木，以改善空氣。另外，當局又會在加士居道天橋重建部分設置隔音屏障，以減少噪音滋擾居民。

駿發居民轟天橋愈起愈多
居住在駿發花園約十年的鄭先生批評，多年來飽受噪音滋擾，擔心幹線落成後問題更加嚴重。另一駿發花園居民盧先生則說：「我當初搬入箧住只得一條天橋，依家愈起愈多，噪音真係好嚴重，我亦唔信你疉真係可以做到減少污染。」

周進華回應強調，在興建幹線時，當局以不為居民帶來額外負擔為大前提。至於落實走線方案，周表示會繼續廣收意見，隨後交予油尖旺區議會及立法會審議。

中九幹線新方案 保油麻地警署


(明報) 04月 28日 星期一 05:10AM

【明報專訊】路政署已完成連接西九龍至啟德 的中九龍幹線設計，針對屬三級歷史建築的油麻地警署清拆爭議，路政署初步構思在警署地底加建大型平台承托整個地基，然後在平台下挖建隧道，同時保留


有86年歷史的警署舊翼，以及一度預料須「犧牲」、有51年歷史的新翼。

加建平台承托地基 深層鑽挖

路政署去年展開中九龍幹線公眾諮詢，從40多個可行走線方案中挑選合適興建設計。路政署主要工程管理處高級工程師陳焯明接受《政府新聞網》訪問時指出，首選走線是隧道西面出入口位於西九龍填海區，然後沿甘肅 街穿越彌敦道，經何文田 、土瓜灣、九龍城等連接啟德發展區和九龍灣，全長4.7公里，當中約3.9公里為隧道。

陳焯明表示，由於走線途經大量樓宇地底，路政署將以深層鑽挖方式，在深入地底石層興建深層隧道，避免清拆私樓，沿線只有九龍政府合署、油麻地多層停車場大樓及油麻地專科診所3幢政府樓宇需要拆卸。屬旅遊景點的油麻地玉器市場則待鄰近多層停車場大樓清拆後，騰出空地重置，玉器商販已接納安排，廟街 夜市則會繼續經營。

路政署去年提交初步走線時，認為屬三級歷史建築的油麻地警署，只能保留於1922年建成的舊翼，而1957年建成的新翼則因與幹線位置重疊，須清拆重置。

三級歷史建築 料改社區用途

陳焯明說，明白公眾關注保留整個警署建築群，現初步構思在新翼地基下，加建平台承托建築物，然後在平台下面挖建隧道，讓警署新舊翼皆獲保存。不過，由於工程影響出入警署交通，警方須遷至海泓道新警署辦公，原來建築將改作社區用途，原區則另設報案中心。

中九龍幹線造價逾100億元，預計在2012年動工，2016年完成，屆時油麻地往啟德的車程料可縮短至5分鐘，路政署稍後將向立法會提交方案申請撥款。

From news.gov.hk:
New east-west link to cut journey time (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/080425/features/html/080425en06009.htm)

Tunnel work may damage police station
14 May 2008
South China Morning Post

Minor damage may be caused to the "new" wing of Yau Ma Tei police station when the Highways Department starts work on the Central Kowloon Route in 2012.

Department senior engineer Chan Chuek-ming said the work might lead to cracks appearing in the 52-year-old wing.

"We will construct a foundation block with pillars going deep into the ground to hold the structure while the tunnel work is conducted underneath," Mr Chan said.

However, he added: "We don't rule out the chance of subsidence if the weight upon the block deviates from our calculations".

Mr Chan said the minor damage would be easily repaired.

The department will start drawing up detailed planning and environmental assessment work after the Legislative Council transport panel discusses the route's alignment on Friday.

The HK$10 billion project is aimed at cutting the journey time between Yau Ma Tei and Kai Tak. The 4.7km route, which includes a 3.9km tunnel, is intended to link the West Kowloon Reclamation area and the future Kai Tak development.

In a document submitted to the panel yesterday, the department recommended a tunnel-plus-road option it said would avoid affecting the 85-year-old Yau Ma Tei police station's old wing, listed as a Grade 3 historic monument.

However, tourists seeking fortune tellers would have to move from Kansu Street to Reclamation Street during the route's construction, the document said. Other facilities that would be affected include the jade market and a clinic for patients with sexually transmitted diseases. These would be moved to a nearby car park and to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Flyover must be rebuilt for noise barrier, says engineer
28 February 2009
South China Morning Post

A noise barrier could only be fitted on a section of the Ferry Street flyover if it was torn down and rebuilt, a government engineer said yesterday.

Residents have been demanding a barrier to shield them from the noise and pollution that will be generated by the Central Kowloon Route.

Chow Chun-wah, the Highways Department's chief engineer on major works, said the flyover was not designed to sustain extra structures.

"There are limitations with the flyover's design. Even if noise barriers can be set upon it they will only be short ones, and it will not be able to solve [the noise] problems for residents in high-rises. If we really have to do it, we may need to tear down the flyover for reconstruction," he said.

Mr Chow was addressing the concerns of residents in Prosperous Garden - a housing estate in Yau Ma Tei that is separated from the route's construction site only by the flyover.

The HK$10 billion project is aimed at cutting the journey time between Yau Ma Tei and Kai Tak. The 4.7km route, which includes a 3.9km tunnel, is intended to link the West Kowloon Reclamation area and the future Kai Tak development. It is expected to ease heavy traffic in Mong Kok and To Kwa Wan when it is completed in 2016.

Three buildings, including the Yau Ma Tei clinic, Kowloon government offices and a multi-storey car park, will have to be demolished to make way for the route. The old wing of Yau Ma Tei police station - a grade three historic monument - will be preserved but the fate of its less valuable new wing and attached structures has not yet been determined.

In a meeting of the Legislative Council's transport panel yesterday, the department's project manager, Chow Ying-shun, said it had pushed the tunnel's proposed portal much farther west from residential clusters. It will also hide the tunnel's ventilation building inside a slope and retrofit a noise barrier on sections of Gascoigne Road in Jordan.

But Miriam Lau Kin-yee, of the Liberal Party, said the department should not give up on the problem of the Ferry Street flyover.

"You used to say that it was technically impossible to retrofit noise barriers on the Kwun Tong Bypass as well, but eventually you did it."

Democratic Party legislator Andrew Cheng Kar-foo said if it was really impossible to install noise barriers, the government should consider other options, such as fitting noise-proof windows in the homes of affected residents.

The department said it would continue to study options and the project would undergo an environmental impact assessment.

Meanwhile, the Transport and Housing Bureau said it was not yet convinced that it should be made mandatory for all children to wear seat belts on school buses.

The bureau's principal assistant secretary, Rosanna Law Suk-pui, said in the same panel meeting that a study into overseas examples had failed to find a city with such laws.

A new step in community planning

The Highways Department will use the construction of the Central Kowloon Route as an opportunity to achieve a sustainable Yau Ma Tei through integrated planning with conservation, enhancement and land-use restructuring.

This was the message from Major Works Project Management Office Senior Engineer Robert Chan who recently told news.gov.hk the mainstream proposal of the Yau Ma Tei revamp for the Central Kowloon Route project has been reached after a series of focus groups and public forums.

The new 4.7km link will connect West Kowloon with Kowloon Bay and the future Kai Tak development with a whole new urban design concept for the affected Yau Ma Tei area.


Urban design vision

It will be the first time urban design has been integrated into a construction project in Hong Kong. Not only will the engineers take the lead in reconstructing facilities, they will enhance the area's local characteristics.

Mr Chan said Temple Street and the Jade Market are among the major Yau Ma Tei landmarks which need to be preserved.

"These places are the gathering places of the unique local culture, which we are striving to retain," he said.

The Yau Ma Tei Specialist Clinic on Battery Street, the Kowloon Government Offices on Nathan Road and the Yau Ma Tei Multi-storey Car Park Building on Shanghai Street will be demolished to make way for the Central Kowloon Route construction. For better urban design the site will be constructed to allow more open space. But library and postal services will remain.

Architects and urban designers involved in the urban design propose to broaden a passage from Nathan Road to Ferry Street with a large civic square connecting the area. In addition Temple Street will be straightened to provide a comfortable walking experience for pedestrians.

Public engagement

To preserve the local characteristics the department has been collecting public views for more than a year. An interschool planning competition was held inviting student participation in the project.

"Students went to interview local residents and took videos of their responses," Mr Chan said, adding forums were also held to allow people to voice their opinions. The department's strengthened communication with residents offered a deeper understanding of their expectations.

A consensus has been reached to conserve the new and old wings of Yau Ma Tei Police Station. More studies and discussions are underway before the conservation plan can be finalised. The public generally wants the premises to be made open and used for police related purposes. The station was built in Edwardian style in 1922 and is classified as an historical building.

The project is currently planned to start in 2012 and for completion in 2016.

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Source: http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/090722/features/html/090722en06001.htm#