For discussion PWSC(96-97)111
on 5 March 1997

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 706 - HIGHWAYS
Transport - Roads
412TH - Kennedy Town traffic management measures, stage 3

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 412TH to Category A entitled "Kennedy Town traffic management measures, stage 3" at an estimated cost of $125.9 million in money-of-the-day prices.

---

PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DETAILS OF CONSULTANTS’ FEES

---

PROBLEM

Road capacity in Kennedy Town is inadequate to meet existing and anticipated traffic demand.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Highways, with the support of the Secretary for Transport, proposes to upgrade 412TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $125.9 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the implementation of stage 3 of the Kennedy Town traffic management measures.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project comprises -

1. widening the section of Kennedy Town Praya from Queen's Road West to Sands Street to provide one additional eastbound lane, and construction of associated footpath and drainage works;
2. implementing traffic management measures which include signals at six road junctions and re-routing of Queen's Road West and Belcher's Street from Hill Road to Sands Street into a one-way westbound carriageway; and
3. providing indirect noise mitigation measures to about 1 786 residential flats facing Kennedy Town Praya and Kennedy Town New Praya.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The Western District Traffic Study completed by the Director of Highways in 1988 recommended the comprehensive re-arrangement of traffic circulation in Kennedy Town through staged implementation of road improvements and traffic management measures to improve traffic flow in the Western District. We have completed stages 1 and 2 of the Kennedy Town traffic management measures, involving minor re-routing, segregation of through and local traffic, and rationalising public transport and servicing activities. These measures have improved traffic conditions in Kennedy Town.

5. However, the present road system in Kennedy Town is still inadequate to meet existing and anticipated traffic demand. There are conflicts between through and local traffic, public transport, servicing activities and pedestrians. Upon the commissioning of the Western Harbour Crossing in early 1997, more traffic will travel through Kennedy Town. Without improvements to the existing road system, congestion will occur in the evening peak hours when traffic heading for Pokfulam and Southern District through this area is heaviest.

6. We need to implement stage 3 measures in order to meet local traffic needs of Kennedy Town and to cater for some of the traffic travelling through Western District. The following is a comparison of peak hour reserve capacities of five main junctions in the area with and without the stage 3 measures -

7. The project will result in most of the existing dwellings along the proposed road widening being exposed to noise levels higher than the limits stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. Due to prevailing site conditions, direct mitigation measures in the form of enclosures or roadside barriers are either ineffective or impractical to reduce noise levels. We need to provide indirect noise mitigation measures in the form of window insulation and air-conditioners to about 1 786 residential flats facing Kennedy Town Praya and Kennedy Town New Praya.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. We estimate the capital cost of the works to be $125.9 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 9 below), made up as follows -

We will implement the road works and traffic management measures using term contracts¹ . As to the indirect noise mitigation measures, we will first employ consultants to carry out a detailed study² to ascertain which premises will be affected by future traffic noise and, therefore, require indirect noise mitigation measures. The consultants will then recommend the measures so required. The consultants and resident site staff will administer the implementation of these measures by the affected owners, including checking the installations, processing and certifying payments to the owners. A breakdown by man-months of the estimates for consultants’ fees is at the Enclosure.

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

10. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government’s forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1997 to 2000.

11. We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure to be $162,500.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

12. Representatives of the Highways Department consulted the Traffic and Transport Committee and the Environment and Works Committee of the Central and Western District Board on 4 July 1996 and 12 September 1996 respectively. The Committee members raised no objection to the project and urged for early completion of the indirect noise mitigation measures.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

13. We completed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project in August 1996. The study recommended the provision of indirect mitigation measures in the form of window insulation and air-conditioners to the affected domestic dwellings³ . The Advisory Council on the Environment endorsed the EIA findings on 30 September 1996. On 18 February 1997 the Governor in Council approved the provision of indirect mitigation measures for the affected domestic dwellings subject to the necessary funds being approved by Finance Committee. The total estimate of these noise mitigation measures is $82.8 million at December 1996 prices. We have included this cost in the overall project estimate.

14. For short term impacts during construction, we will control noise, dust and site run-off through implementation of mitigation measures in the works contract.

LAND ACQUISITION

15. The proposed works do not require any land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

16. We completed stage 1 of the Kennedy Town traffic management measures under the Category D item 424TH entitled "Kennedy Town traffic management scheme - stage 1" in November 1990. We completed the stage 2 measures under 549TH entitled "Rock Hill Street extension and stage 2 of Kennedy Town traffic management measures" in December 1996.

17. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study which we completed in 1992 for 503TH "Belcher Bay Link" concluded that the provision of direct mitigation measures for that project will be ineffective. This is because traffic noise will come primarily from the proposed widened Kennedy Town Praya under 412TH as recommended in this paper and the part of Route 7 from Hill Road to Queen's Road West. Subsequent to two landmark cases⁴ in which the Governor in Council endorsed the provision of window insulation and air-conditioners as indirect measures to mitigate traffic noise impact, we reviewed the Belcher Bay Link EIA study. The review identified that the traffic noise arising from the widened Kennedy Town Praya will be predominant when compared with that from the Belcher Bay Link. It therefore recommended to conduct an EIA study for 412TH to examine the need to provide indirect mitigation measures based on the eligibility criteria set down in the two precedent cases so as to ameliorate the traffic noise impacts arising from the Belcher Bay Link and the widened Kennedy Town Praya.

18. We have completed detailed design for the road works and planned to commence the works in April 1997 for completion in September 1997. We will start the implementation of the indirect mitigation measures in September 1997 for completion in September 1999.

(EE1062)

1 -- A term contract refers to a contract whereby the contractor is required to carry out non pre-indentified works within a fixed period of time.
2 -- The estimated cost of the detailed study is $2.8 million. We have charged this design fee to Subhead 6100TX "Highway works, studies and investigations for items in Category D of the Public Works Programme".
3 -- The EIA also examined the need to provide indirect measures to mitigate traffic noise arising from the Belcher Bay Link project for reasons given para. 17.
4 -- Western Harbour Crossing and the Duplicate Tsing Yi South Bridge Projects.

---

Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)111

DETAILS OF CONSULTANTS’ FEES

Breakdown of estimates for consultants’ fees

Notes

1. A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including consultants’ overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultants’ offices. (At 1.4.96, MPS pt. 40 = $55,390 p.m. and MPS pt 16 = $18,595 p.m.)

2. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Highways. Subject to approval by the Engineering and Associated Consultants Selection Board, the consultancy for implementing indirect noise mitigation measures of this project will be included as additional works under the Consultancy Agreement for the Belcher Bay Link Project (Agreement No. CE32/88) for the consultants who conducted the EIA of the project. The resident site staff required to administer the project will be employed as government staff under that Consultancy Agreement. We will only know the actual man-months and actual fees when we have agreed to the fee proposal yet to be submitted by the consultants.

(EE1062)

---