For discussion PWSC(96-97)47
on 10 July 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 707 - NEW TOWNS AND URBAN AREA DEVELOPMENT
New Territories East Development
(Civil Engineering - Land development)
59CL - Sha Tin New Town, stage II - engineering development, package 13

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee an increase in the approved project estimate of 59CL from $229 million by $148.5 million to $377.5 million in money-of-the-day prices and revision in the scope of the project.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
59CL - Sha Tin New Town, stage II - engineering development, package 13

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PROBLEM

The approved project estimate of 59CL is insufficient for the works under the project.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development (DTD), with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to increase the approved project estimate of 59CL from $229 million by $148.5 million to $377.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for additional and modification works under the project.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The present scope of works under 59CL comprises the formation and construction of roads and drains in areas 11 (part), 51, 64 and 65C, Sha Tin, which includes the construction of the On Ming Street (formerly called ‘Road D9’) Bridge (the Bridge) to serve the developments in area 11.

4. We have reviewed the project scope under paragraph 3 above. We consider it necessary to extend the project scope to include the following -

1. provision of an additional lane for the Bridge. The original design was for a Bridge four lanes wide;
2. construction of a pedestrian/cycle subway across Siu Lek Yuen Road as part of the Bridge system near the junction with Chap Wai Kon Street; and
3. modification of the junction of Tai Chung Kiu Road and Siu Lek Yuen Road.

JUSTIFICATION

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5. Tai Chung Kiu Road is the only local road linking Sha Tin area 11 with the town centre. The original design of the road was based on the road network planned in late 1970’s. There has been a significant increase in the traffic flow on the road in recent years due to increased industrial/commercial building developments in area 11, the change in planning layout of area 51 (where the population has increased from 5 100 to 8 600), Tai Chung Kiu Road. Apart from these, the opening of the Sha Tin Refuse Transfer Station in the adjacent area 65B, the increase in car ownership in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s and an increase in China trade.

6. Due to the above factors, traffic congestion frequently occurs at the two junctions of Tai Chung Kiu Road with Siu Lek Yuen Road and On Lai Street. The “Road D9 Bridge over Siu Lek Yuen Nullah, Traffic Impact Study for External Junctions in area 11, Sha Tin New Town” completed by Territory Development Department’s consultants in 1993, indicated that the traffic flow at these two road junctions would exceed their design capacity by 33% and 11% respectively by 2001 if no rectifying measures were implemented. Under the original scope of 59CL, we proposed to construct a four-lane wide bridge on On Ming Street across Siu Lek Yuen Nullah to alleviate congestion on Tai Chung Kiu Road. However, this four-lane design cannot meet the current and projected needs and we have revised the design by providing one additional lane to increase the capacity of the Bridge.

7. The Bridge alone is inadequate to relieve the increased traffic flow at the junction of Tai Chung Kiu Road and Siu Lek Yuen Road. We estimate that the Bridge can only relieve the traffic at the junction by about 5%. We need to modify the junction itself by providing a left turn filter lane on the westbound carriageway of Tai Chung Kiu Road and to restrict the traffic exiting the floating restaurant to left-out movement only. The proposed modification works will increase the junction capacity by 29%. In the long term, the Sha Tin - Ma On Shan District Traffic Study completed by Transport Department’s consultant has recommended the construction of a flyover along Tai Chung Kiu Road under a separate project to cater for the projected traffic growth due to the rapid developments at Ma On Shan.

8. The traffic impact study mentioned in paragraph 6 above also proposed the provision of a pedestrian/cycle subway, as part of the Bridge system, across Siu Lek Yuen Road near its junction with Chap Wai Kon Street. The proposed subway will provide a safe crossing for both pedestrians and cyclists, and link up the cycle tracks on both sides of the Siu Lek Yuen Nullah.

9. Following a review of the financial position of the project, DTD considers it necessary to increase the approved project estimate of 59CL from $229 million by $148.5 million to $377.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 11 below) in order to complete the additional and modification works. A summary of the reasons for the proposed increase of $148.5 million is as follows -

10. A comparison of the cost breakdown of the approved project estimate (at July 1983 prices) and the revised project estimate (at December 1995 prices) is at the Enclosure.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

11. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

12. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government’s forecasts of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 2000. We will tender the remaining works under a standard remeasurement contract because the quantities of the foundation works for the bridge and pedestrian/cycle subway may vary according to the actual ground conditions. We will provide for adjustment due to inflation in the contract because the construction period will last longer than 21 months.

13. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure arising from the outstanding works to be $834,000.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

14. Due to the substantial change in the design of the Bridge system, we consulted the Traffic and Transport Committee (T&TC) of the Sha Tin District Board in March 1995 on the latest scheme for the Bridge, including the pedestrian/cycle subway. The Committee endorsed the proposal on the condition that the project would comply with the noise control requirement set out by the Director of Environmental Protection (DEP).

15. We gazetted the proposed scheme under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance on 21 April 1995 and received two objections from the City Committee City One Shatin regarding alleged noise impact. We explained to the objectors that according to environmental reviews carried out by DEP in April 1993 and May 1995, the proposal would not cause any significant noise impact to the residents of City One Shatin and that the provision of noise mitigation measures was considered to be unnecessary. We presented the detailed results of the noise impact assessment to the objectors but they did not withdraw their objections.

16. In the light of the objections, we consulted the T&TC again in September 1995. Although Members supported the project, they asked for the noise assessment figures to support the decision for not providing noise mitigation measures. On 21 November 1995, after taking into consideration figures we provided, the T&TC supported the proposal but still requested that noise mitigation measures be provided.

17. The alleged noise problem is due to the road traffic on the existing Siu Lek Yuen Road rather than the proposed Bridge because the noise impact due to the Bridge alone would not be significant. However, the Government has no policy to provide noise mitigation measures in the form of noise barriers or enclosures to redress noise disturbance from existing roads. The Governor in Council over-ruled the objections in the public interest on 30 April 1996.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

18. The environmental review conducted by DEP in April 1993 and the subsequent update in May 1995 indicated that, based on the estimated traffic flow in 2001, the traffic noise impact due to the proposed project on the residents of City One Shatin is within the noise criteria stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. We will limit dust, noise and site run-off impacts during construction in compliance with established standards/guidelines by incorporating appropriate environmental pollution control clauses into the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

19. The proposed modification to the scope of the original project will not require any land acquisition.

Background INFORMATION

20. We upgraded 59CL to Category A in November 1976 at an estimated cost of $120 million for the development of areas 11 and 51, Sha Tin. In 1977, we extended the scope of the project to cover the servicing of a borrow area in area 64 and a nearby village and increased the approved project estimate from $120 million by $34 million to $154 million. In September 1983, Finance Committee approved an increase in the approved project estimate from $154 million by $75 million to $229 million to cover escalation in construction costs and additional works found necessary during the construction stage and a reduction in scope of the project to exclude servicing of an existing village near the borrow area and parts of area 11. The works under 59CL have now been substantially completed except for the construction of the Bridge.

21. The consultants have completed the detailed design and drawings for the remaining works under the project set out in paragraph 4 above. We plan to start these works in October 1996 for completion in October 1998.

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)47

59CL - Sha Tin New Town, stage II - engineering development, package 13

A comparison of the approved project estimate at July 1983 prices and the revised project estimate at December 1995 prices is as follows -

2. As regards (b) (local roads and drainage including external roads and sewerage links), of the total increase of $92.7 million -

1. $7.5 million is due to the increase in the costs of the works commenced between January 1985 and March 1988. As a reference, ttenders for four contracts between December 1984 and November 1987. he Civil Engineering Works Index (CEWI) increased by an average of 24%average of 24% during this period since July 1983 when we prepared the last cost estimate;
2. $2 million is for price fluctuation payments made under the contracts for the works completed during the period between July 1983 and February 1993. As a reference, the CEWI increased by 126% during this period;
3. $2 million is due to an increase in the quantities of works based on actual measurement on site;
4. $3.8 million is for the modification works to the junction of Tai Chung Kiu Road and Siu Lek Yuen Road;
5. $28.6 million is for the construction of the pedestrian/cycle subway across Siu Lek Yuen Road including the necessary site investigations and the associated site formation and landscaping works; and
6. $48.8 million is to cover the increase in the cost of the On Ming Street Bridge. Of the total increase of $48.8 million -
   1. $28.6 million is due to the increase in construction costs for the bridge estimated at $17 million in July 1983 when we prepared the last estimate. As a reference, the CEWI increased by 168% during the period between July 1983 and December 1995;
   2. $9.6 million is for the additional lane on the bridge. We revised the design of the Bridge (originally 4-lane wide) to provide one more lane to increase the capacity of the road junctions at both ends of the bridge;
   3. $7 million is due to the increase in construction costs to comply with the latest design standards and construction requirements including $5 million for better finishes and riding comfort and $2 million for use of quieter construction equipment and limitation on working hours; and
   4. $3.6 million is due to the need to accommodate more utilities within the bridge for nearby developments.

3. As regards (c) (consulting engineers’ fees and expenses), of the total increase of $13.2 million -

1. $0.5 million is for the traffic impact study to investigate the traffic layout at the Bridge and the external junctions in area 11;
2. $4.6 million is due to the increase in consultants’ fees for design and construction stages estimated at about 5% of the increase in the cost of the works under paragraph 1(b) above. The consultants fees are based on percentage scale according to the consultancy agreements since this project has been upgraded to Category A in 1976; and
3. $8.1 million is due to the increase in site staff costs estimated at about 10% of the increase in cost of works under paragraph 2(d) to 2(f) above, which is consistent with prevailing site staff costs for contracts of similar size and nature.

4. As regards (d) (contingencies), we retain $10.6 million as contingencies for the remaining works.

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