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| The new Heung Yuen Wai Highway will connect to the Fanling Highway. Photo from South China Morning Post |
By Ng Kang-chung
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The Heung Yuen Wai Highway, which connects the new border control point with the Fanling Highway, is expected to open from 8am on May 26, a Development Bureau spokesman said on Thursday.
At about 11km long the road also has two tunnels, including the 4.8km Lung Shan Tunnel, which is the longest road tunnel on land in Hong Kong.
The road is one of the core works of the Liantang-Heung Yuen Wai control point project, a key infrastructure project included in the Hong Kong and Macau chapter of China's 12th five-year plan.
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| A view of the Liantang and Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point from above. Photo from South China Morning Post |
The border crossing aims to strengthen Hong Kong's connectivity within the Greater Bay Area, a development blueprint aimed to link Hong Kong, Macau, and nine mainland cities in Guangdong province to form a innovation and technology hub.
Officials said work on the control point is in the final stages and it is expected to open by the end of this year.
Ta Kwu Ling rural committee chairwoman Chan Yuet-ming hailed the opening of the highway and the new control point.
"With the opening of the new highway, villagers in the northern New Territories can reach Sheung Shui or Fanling in as short as four minutes, instead of the present 15 to 20 minutes," she said.
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| Chan Yuet-ming, Ta Kwu Ling rural committee chairwoman, hailed the impact the new road would have. Photo from South China Morning Post |
"The new control point can also cut travelling time for those going to the east of Shenzhen and ease congestion at other land control points."
The border crossing will also be the first land-based one in Hong Kong with direct access facilities for both passengers and vehicles, and is designed to handle 17,850 vehicle trips and 30,000 passenger trips a day.
At present, cross-border traffic going from the eastern New Territories to eastern Shenzhen has to use the Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok control points, which on average handled about 4,569 and 2,312 vehicles a day respectively in 2018.
