PWSC(97-98)72
For discussion
on 12 November 1997

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS
SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 706 - HIGHWAYS
Transport - Roads
519TH - Route 10 - North Lantau to Yuen Long Highway

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -

1. to upgrade part of 519TH entitled " Route 10 - North Lantau to Yuen Long Highway - investigation and preliminary design " to Category A at an estimated cost of $353.8 million in money-of-the-day prices; and

2. to retain the remainder of 519TH in Category B.

PROBLEM

The existing road network between Lantau and the north-western New Territories is unable to cope with the future traffic demand.

PROPOSAL

2.The Director of Highways (DHy), with the support of the Secretary for Transport, proposes to upgrade part of 519TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $353.8 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices to employ consultants to undertake investigation and preliminary design of the proposed Route 10 from North Lantau to Yuen Long Highway.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3.The scope of works of 519TH includes the construction of -

1. about 3.0 kilometres of dual 3-lane road on North Lantau (which includes 600 metres dual 3-lane tunnel and a toll plaza) from the future Lantau Port Expressway interchange to Kwai Shek;

2. about 2.4 kilometres of dual 3-lane bridge spanning across the Ma Wan Channel from Kwai Shek to Tsing Lung Tau;

3. about 3.5 kilometres of dual 3-lane road from Tsing Lung Tau to So Kwun Wat (which includes two sections of dual 3-lane tunnel of length 2.1 kilometres and 400 metres respectively);

4. about 2.2 kilometres of dual 2-lane link road from So Kwun Wat to Tuen Mun Road;

5. about 7.0 kilometres of dual 2-lane link road¹ from So Kwun Wat to Yuen Long Highway near Tin Shui Wai (which includes a 5.0-kilometre long dual 2-lane tunnel );

6. So Kwun Wat interchange, Tuen Mun Road interchange and Tong Yan San Tsuen interchange at Yuen Long Highway; and

7. associated civil, geotechnical, landscape and drainage works, ancillary buildings, toll facilities, electrical and mechanical installations, traffic control and surveillance system, and environmental mitigation measures.

4.The part of the project we now propose to upgrade to Category A comprises -

1. consultants' fees for the investigation and preliminary design of the works for the proposed expressway as detailed in Paragraph 3 above; and

2. associated ground investigations.

JUSTIFICATION

5.The proposed works under 519TH will form a second road crossing between Lantau and the north-western New Territories (NWNT). The Updating of the Second Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS-2 Update) recommended that this crossing should be in place by 2006 in order to meet the forecast traffic increase generated by new developments on Lantau, in particular the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, the Tung Chung New Town and the Lantau Port Peninsula. Without this second crossing, the capacity of Lantau Link and Ting Kau Bridge will be exceeded by around 2004. The proposed Route 10 will also serve as an alternative road link between Lantau and the rest of the territory in the event of closure of the Lantau Link.

6.The Feasibility Study² for 519TH indicated that a number of strategic routes within the NWNT, including the Country Park Section of Route 3, the Tuen Mun Road east of So Kwun Wat, and the Yuen Long Highway will be operating at or beyond their capacity by 2001. The study therefore recommended extending the route northwest-ward towards Yuen Long to relieve the forecast traffic congestion.

7.We now need to proceed with the investigation and preliminary design for 519TH to establish more precisely its land requirements, as well as the environmental, marine, drainage, traffic and other impacts on the affected areas. Such information will be essential for the preparation of detailed plans and scheme for gazettal under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance during the subsequent detailed design stage. In addition, we need to further investigate the alignment and design capacity of the northern section of the route to ensure its compatibility with new cross boundary road links planned under the Crosslinks Further Study³ .

8.We propose to employ consultants to undertake the investigation and preliminary design for 519TH and to supervise the associated ground investigation works, as we do not have the necessary in-house resources.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9.We estimate the cost of this part of the project to be $353.8 million in MOD prices made up as follows -

			$ million
(a)	Consultants' fees		204.0
	(i) investigation and preliminary design	197.9
	(ii) supervision of ground investigations	6.1
(b)	Ground investigations		60.0
(c)	Contingencies		26.0
Sub-total			290.0	(at December 1996 prices)
(d)	Inflation allowance		63.8
Total			353.8	(in MOD prices)

10.We will award the consultancy through tendering on a lump sum basis with provisions for inflation adjustments as the duration of the consultancy will exceed 12 months. A breakdown by man-months of the estimate for consultants' fees is at Enclosure 1. The consultants will supervise the ground investigation works under a contract to be awarded through normal tendering procedures.

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

Year	$ million (Dec 1996)	Price adjustment factor	$ million (MOD)
1997 - 98	9.0	1.06750	9.6
1998 - 99	150.0	1.16358	174.5
1999 - 2000	100.0	1.26830	126.8
2000 - 2001	31.0	1.38244	42.9
	290.0		353.8

12.The proposed consultancy will not give rise to any annually recurrent expenditure.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

13.We consider public consultation unnecessary at the project investigation and preliminary design stage. We will consult the relevant District Boards⁴ and the Advisory Council on the Environment when we have finalised the preliminary design of 519TH.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

14.The proposed investigation and preliminary design will not have any environmental implication. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) for the proposed route which we completed in April 1997. The PER concluded that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is necessary to identify mitigation measures and to confirm the environmental acceptability of 519TH. The preliminary findings of an EIA carried out under the Feasibility Study show that traffic noise at the So Kwun Wat area is a major issue. We will address this issue in detail in the EIA study to be undertaken as part of 519TH and resolve the problem in accordance with existing Government policies. We shall incorporate all mitigation measures identified into the detailed design of the project.

LAND ACQUISITION

15.The proposed investigation and preliminary design do not involve any land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

16.We included 519TH (formerly named Sham Tseng Link) in Category C in February 1993 for the construction of a new dual 2-lane road connection between the Route 3 - Country Park Section and North Lantau Expressway .

17.We completed the Preliminary Feasibility Study⁵ (PFS) for Sham Tseng Link in March 1994 and identified possible routes connecting North Lantau and the Route-3 Country Park Section at Ting Kau. The route selection was then based on the traffic demand with a population projection of 6.6 million by 2011.

18.Subsequent to the PFS, the Territorial Development Strategy Review⁶ (TDSR) produced in early 1995 a series of revised population projections ranging from 7.5 to 8.1 million by 2011. Of this population, TDSR suggested that an additional population of approximately 630,000 people will reside in the NWNT. This has resulted in a major upward revision to traffic demand forecasts between the NWNT and the urban area.

19.The revised traffic forecasts necessitated consideration of providing a direct link between Sham Tseng Link and Yuen Long Highway in Yuen Long to help relieve the future traffic demand of the NWNT. We therefore commenced in May 1995 a Feasibility Study (FS) to examine the new alignment options and confirmed that the preferred new alignment for the southern section of the link would be from Lantau Port Expressway interchange to So Kwun Wat with road link to Tuen Mun Road.

20.However, the scope of the FS has not catered for the long-term strategic network both locally within NWNT and in Guangdong, which was within the purview of the Crosslinks Study (CS) undertaken in parallel with the FS by the Director of Planning from September 1995 to May 1996. The CS indicates that the section between So Kwun Wat and Yuen Long Highway (i.e. the northern section of the proposed Route 10) will form a major element in the proposed Crosslinks road network, but its alignment is subject to further refinement. Therefore, the FS confirmed only the proposed alignment for the southern road section from North Lantau to So Kwun Wat, but not for the northern road section from So Kwun Wat to Yuen Long Highway.

21.In view of the uncertainties surrounding the need to provide cross boundary road links, the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands has embarked on the Crosslinks Further Study. The consultants of the first stage of the Further Study is developing proposals for possible new routes linking the proposed Shenzhen Western Corridor from Shekou and Lingdingyang Bridge from Zhuhai. Accordingly, the northern road section under 519TH will require a further investigation study to confirm the alignment and connections with Yuen Long Highway, taking into account the findings of the Crosslinks Further Study.

22.We upgraded 519TH to Category B in August 1997 at an estimated cost of $21,775 million. We plan to start the investigation and preliminary design works in March 1998 for completion in August 2000. We intend to commence construction works in 2002 for completion in 2007.

Transport Bureau
October 1997

1.The alignment and design capacity of this proposed road section requires further investigation to ensure its compatibility with the planned new boundary crossings to Shenzhen.

2.We charged the Feasibility Study at the cost of $17 million to Head 706 Subhead 6008TX - " Consultants' design fees and charges and major in-house investigations for highways projects', which has been replaced by Subhead 6100TX - " Highway works, studies and investigations for items in Category D of the Public Works Programme " since April 1996. Before 1 June 1995, DHy's delegated authority to approve expenditure on any single item under Subhead 6008TX was up to the total provision approved by the Finance Committee.

3.The Crosslinks Further Study comprises three stages. The first stage on traffic demand (at a cost of $7.92 million charged to a Capital Account item under the control of the Director of Planning) commenced in April 1997 for completion in September 1998. The second stage on the implications on environment, land use planning, financial viability (at a cost of $21 million charged to a Capital Account item under the control of the Director of Planning) and preliminary engineering issues (at a cost of $8 million charged under Head 706 Subhead 6100TX - Highway works, studies and investigations for items in Category D of the Public Works Programme) will commence in November 1997 for completion in May 1999. The final stage on highway engineering feasibility and project impact assessments will commence in June 1999 for completion in June 2000.

4.The relevant District Boards include Tsuen Wan District Board, Tuen Mun District Board and Yuen Long District Board.

5.We charged the study at a cost of $5.3 million to Head 706 Subhead 6008TX - " Consultants' design fees and charges and major in-house investigations for highways projects', which has been replaced by Subhead 6100TX - " Highway works, studies and investigations for items in Category D of Public Works Programme " since April 1996.

6.The Director of Planning commenced the Territorial Development Strategy Review in mid 1990 and completed it in 1996.

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Enclosure to PWSC(97-98)72

519TH - Route 10 - North Lantau to Yuen Long Highway

Breakdown of the estimate for consultant's fees

* MPS = Master Pay Scale

Notes

(1) A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants' overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultant's offices. (At 1.4.96, MPS pt. 40 = $55,390 p.m., and MPS pt. 16 = $18,595 p.m.). A multiplier factor of 2.1 is applied in the case of site staff supplied by the consultants.

(2) Out-of-pocket expenses are the actual cost incurred. The consultant is not entitled to any additional payment for the overheads or profit in respect of these items.

(3) The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Highways. We will only know the actual man months and actual fees when we have selected the consultant through the usual competitive lump sum fee bid system.