For discussion
on 24 February 1999

PWSC(98-99)69

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 707	-	NEW TOWNS AND URBAN AREA DEVELOPMENT
New Territories West Development
Transport	-	Roads
709TH	-	Road improvement for vertical interim housing at area 29, Tuen Mun

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 709TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $60.2 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a footbridge and road improvement in area 29, Tuen Mun.

PROBLEM

The existing road network in area 29, Tuen Mun will not be able to cope with the future traffic demand arising from the construction of a vertical interim housing¹ development in the area.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development (DTD), with the support of the Secretary for Transport (S for T), proposes to upgrade 709TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $60.2 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a footbridge and road improvement in area 29, Tuen Mun.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project comprises -

1. widening of 130-metre long Hing Kwai Street from a single 2-lane to a dual 2-lane carriageway and construction of the associated 3-metre wide footpaths on both sides and 3-metre wide cycleway on the western side of the widened road;

2. realignment and widening of about 280 metres of the section of Hing Fu Street along the northern boundary of the VIH, and construction of the associated 2-metre wide footpaths on both sides of the improved road;

3. construction of a 4.5-metre wide covered footbridge across Ming Kum Road;

4. reconstruction of the existing 5-metre wide footpaths and 3-metre wide cycleway along the section of Ming Kum Road fronting the VIH site and near the junction of Ming Kum Road and Tsun Wen Road; and

5. associated drainage and landscaping works.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The Director of Housing (D of H) commenced the construction of a VIH development in area 29, Tuen Mun in November 1997 to provide accommodation for about 21 000 persons by early 2000. The traffic impact assessment report completed in October 1997 identified the need for the road improvement schemes mentioned in paragraph 3 above for the VIH development.

5. The existing Hing Kwai Street fronting the VIH is a single carriageway with two lanes having a design traffic flow of 800 Passenger Car Units ² (PCU) per hour. We estimate that the peak hour traffic flow of this road will increase from 645 PCUs as at present, to 800 PCUs by late 2000, to 925 by 2002, and to 2 585 by 2011. We need to widen the road to a dual 2-lane carriageway to meet the anticipated traffic demand. The new design traffic capacity of the road after improvement will be about 2 800 PCUs per hour. This new capacity will be adequate to serve the VIH development and can also cope with further increase in traffic flow arising from the housing developments in the adjacent area 54 between 2005 to 2010. By that time, it would be necessary to extend this new dual 2-lane Hing Kwai Road to area 54.

6. Hing Fu Street is at present a 3.5 metre wide local road along the northern boundary of the VIH. To serve the purpose of secondary and emergency access for the VIH, we need to realign and widen Hing Fu Street to a 6.75 metre wide single carriageway with two lanes.

7. At present, there is an at-grade pedestrian crossing at the junction of Ming Kum Road, Tsun Wen Road and Hing Kwai Street. This junction has a design capacity for 3 800 pedestrians per hour. With the substantial increase in population after the completion of the VIH and the provision of a public transport interchange at the entrance to the VIH in early 2000, we estimate to have 6 000 pedestrians per hour crossing Ming Kum Road. There will be more conflicts between vehicle and pedestrian movements if we still rely upon the at-grade crossing. For safety and improvement of traffic flow reasons, we propose to construct a footbridge across Ming Kum Road to provide a grade-separated crossing for pedestrians. This footbridge will have a capacity of about 10 000 pedestrians per hour.

8. To alleviate the anticipated pedestrian traffic problems, we also need to construct/reconstruct footpaths and cycleways along Ming Kum Road, Hing Kwai Street and Hing Fu Street. The proposed cycleways along Hing Kwai Street and Hing Fu Street are part of the Tuen Mun New Town cycleway system, the majority of which has been built.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $60.2 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 10 below), made up as follows -

		$ million
(a) Footbridge		32.0
(b) Roads, footpaths and cycleways		8.6
(c) Drainage and landscaping works		1.4
(d) Consultants' fees for		4.3
construction stage	0.5
site staff costs	3.8
(e) Contingencies		4.7
_____
Sub-total		51.0	(at December 1997 prices)
(f) Provision for price adjustment		9.2
_____
Total		60.2	(in MOD prices)
_____

A breakdown by man months of the estimate for the consultants' fees is at the Enclosure.

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

11. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's latest forecast of trend labour and construction prices over the period 1999 to 2002. We will tender the proposed works under a fixed-price lump sum contract because we can clearly define the scope of works. The contract will not provide for price adjustments because the contract period will not exceed 21 months.

12. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $394,000.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

13. We consulted the Environmental Improvement and District Development Committee of the Tuen Mun Provisional District Board on 12 December 1997. Members supported the proposed works.

14. We gazetted the project under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance on 3 April 1998. We received one objection. The objector claimed that the alignment of Hing Fu Street could be shifted to avoid resumption of his lot. After we explained to the objector the constraints of the road alignment, he agreed to withdraw his objection. S for T subsequently authorised the works on 20 November 1998.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

15. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER), carried out by consultants of DTD in February 1997. The PER concluded that the project would have no adverse long term environmental impacts. For short term construction impacts, we will control noise, dust and site run-off to within established standards and guidelines by incorporating relevant environmental pollution control clauses in the works contract.

LAND ACQUISITION

16. We will resume about 600 square metres of agricultural land for the project. The land acquisition and clearance will affect two households involving six persons. D of H will, in accordance with current policy, rehouse eligible clearees in public housing when the clearance commences in July 1999. We will charge the cost of land acquisition and clearance, estimated at $3.4 million, to Head 701 - 'Land Acquisition' Subhead 1100 CA - 'Compensation and ex-gratia allowance in respect of projects in the Public Works Programme'. We anticipate that the land required for the project will be available in July 1999 for commencement of construction.

Background INFORMATION

17. We upgraded 709TH to Category B in August 1997 for the construction of a footbridge and road improvement in area 29, Tuen Mun.

18. We engaged consultants to undertake detailed design and investigations for the project and charged the cost of $1.2 million to the block allocation 7100CX "New towns and urban area works, studies and investigations for items in Category D of the Public Works Programme". The consultants have completed the detailed design and preparation of tender documents for the project. We plan to commence construction in July 1999 for completion in January 2001. To minimise traffic disruption during construction, we will carry out temporary traffic diversion arrangements as and when necessary.

Transport Bureau
February 1999

(PWSC0075/WIN3)

Enclosure to PWSC(98-99)69

Breakdown of estimates for consultants' fees

Consultants' staff costs		Estimated man months	Average MPS* salary point	Multiplier factor	Estimated fee ($ million)
(a) Consultants' fees for construction stage
Contract administration	Professional Technical	2.0 1.5	40 16	2.4 2.4	0.28 0.07
Preparation of as-built drawings	Professional Technical	0.3 1.7	40 16	2.4 2.4	0.04 0.08
(b) Resident site staff costs	Professional Technical	14.0 71.0	40 16	1.7 1.7	1.41 2.40
_____
Total consultants' staff costs					4.28
_____

* MPS = Master Pay Scale

Notes

1. A multiplier factor of 2.4 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants' overheads and profits as the staff will be employed in the consultants' offices. A multiplier factor of 1.7 is applied in the case of site staff supplied by the consultants. (At 1.4.97, MPS pt. 40 = 59,210 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = 19,860 p.m.)

2. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Territory Development. The consultancy works for this project have been included as part of the consultancy agreement for New Town Development at Tuen Mun.

(PWSC0075/WIN3)


1. Vertical interim housing comprises permanent high rise building structures to accommodate residents of a transient nature. They would move on to public rental flats or other types of accommodation once they comply with the relevant eligibility criteria. A high turnover of tenancies is expected for the VIH.


2. Passenger car unit (PCU) is a unit for measuring traffic flow in equivalent number of private cars. For example, a PCU value of 1.0 is assigned to private cars, taxis and light goods vehicles. Heavy vehicles such as heavy goods vehicles or buses which usually travel at a lower speed are assigned higher PCU values.