Tung Chung Road () is a two disjointed-section road connecting the north and south coast of
Lantau Island
Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...
.
Description
The first section is a short road linking a former pier and
Wong Nai Uk in
Tung Chung
Tung Chung, meaning " eastern stream", is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of ...
. The second is a long and hilly section connecting Tung Chung in the island north to
Cheung Sha
Cheung Sha () is a rural area on the south coast of Lantau Island, New Territories, Hong Kong. Along the South Lantau Road, Cheung Sha is located between Tong Fuk (to the southwest) and San Shek Wan (to the northeast).
The most notable feature ...
in the island south. The two sections were previously connected until the completion of the replacement road,
Chung Yan Road in
Tung Chung New Town.
The short section is featured with historical
Tung Chung Battery
Tung Chung Battery is a former artillery battery located on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Named after the eponymous district it is situated in, it was built in 1817, twenty-four years before the British took possession of Hong Kong. It was re ...
, a military coastal defence in
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. It runs along the a river
Ma Wan Chung
Ma Wan Chung () is a village in Tung Chung on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is located on the southeastern coast of Tung Chung Bay.
Administration
Ma Wan Chung is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy.
See also
* Ch ...
and ends in Chung Yan Road.
The long section is a long, steep, narrow and winding road. Due to physical constraints, it was open only to buses, taxis and permit-bearing vehicles only and speed limit is set to 30 km/h. being too dangerous for
double-decker buses
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...
to be trafficable and only "single-deckers" are used in the bus services. It starts near
Ma Wan New Village and joins Chung Yan Road near a river before proceeding upwards to the valley between
Sunset Peak and
Lantau Peak
Lantau Peak or Fung Wong Shan (literally " Phoenix Mountain") is the second highest peak in Hong Kong and the highest point on Lantau Island, with a height of above sea level. Name origin
The mountain is actually made up of a pair of peaks, o ...
. It reaches its highest point at a pass in
Pak Kung Au (also known as
Tung Chung Au) then follows a steep downhill route. The southern end joins
South Lantau Road in Cheung Sha.
Because of its limited capacity, the Transport Department opened the road only to buses, taxis and holders of a permit, issued to residents and business of South Lantau.
The nature of Tung Chung Road helped preserve the rural landscape in southern Lantau. There are bus routes from Tung Chung to various destinations like Cheung Sha,
Mui Wo
Mui Wo is a rural town on the eastern coast of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The 2011 Census recorded 5,485 people living in Mui Wo and its environs.
Mui Wo is located on Silvermine Bay, so named for the silver mines that were once worked along ...
,
Shek Pik
Shek Pik () is an area located along the southwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. When the Shek Pik Reservoir was built, villages at Shek Pik were demolished and the villagers were relocated to other parts of Lantau Island and to Tsue ...
and
Tai O
Tai O is a fishing town, partly located on an island of the same name, on the western side of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The village name means ''large inlet'', referring to outlet for the waterways (Tai O Creek and Tai O River) merges as ...
in the island's south. The road splits off the
Lantau Trail
The Lantau Trail (), opened on 4 December 1984, is a long-distance footpath on Lantau Island in the New Territories of Hong Kong. The trail is a loop starting and finishing in Mui Wo. It is the third longest trail in Hong Kong, after MacLehose ...
on the southern slope of the island.
History
New section
Prior to completion of the new section in 2009, numerous parts consisted of a single lane only; when two oncoming vehicles approached, one had to find a passing place to stop and let the other pass.
On 6 February 2009, the improved Tung Chung Road section between Lung Tseng Tau and Cheung Sha near San Shek Wan on Lantau Island was fully opened from 10am. The new road is a dual carriageway wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other and has fewer sharp turns.
Following the opening, the old road section between
Pak Kung Au and Cheung Sha near Cheung Sha Bridge has been closed. Vehicles are diverted to the new road section between Pak Kung Au and San Shek Wan.
Improved Tung Chung Road to open
Intersections
See also
* List of streets and roads in Hong Kong
The following are incomplete lists of notable expressways, tunnels, bridges, roads, avenues, streets, crescents, squares and bazaars in Hong Kong.
Many roads on the Hong Kong Island conform to the contours of the hill landscape. Some of the ...
References
{{reflist
Tung Chung
Roads in the New Territories
Lantau Island