West Kowloon Highway is a section of Route 3 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, built as part of the Airport Core Programme. This dual-three-lane expressway runs for 4.2 km (), connecting Western Harbour Crossing in the south with Tsing Kwai Highway in the north. While the southern section of the road is at grade, the northern part is on a viaduct in order to accommodate the

MTR The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...

Tung Chung line and the Airport Express. It is not to be confused with the older West Kowloon Corridor (currently part of

Route 5 Route 5, or Highway 5, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * AH5, Asian Highway 5 * European route E05 * European route E005 Argentina * National Route 5 (Argentina), National Route 5 Australia New South Wales * ...

), which is partly parallel to the West Kowloon Highway. This expressway originally had a speed limit of , but it was increased to because of the smooth shape of the road.

History

The highway was constructed as part of the Airport Core Programme; a major function of the new highway was to facilitate access to the new

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distingu ...

from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It was built entirely on the

West Kowloon Reclamation West Kowloon () is the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District and Sham Shui Po District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, and Jordan ...

, an area of artificial land reclaimed from

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

, also under the Airport Core Programme. The road design and engineering consultancy was awarded to Freeman Fox Maunsell in 1990. The northern section (between

Kwai Chung Kwai Chung is an urban area within Tsuen Wan New Town in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Together with Tsing Yi Island, it is part of the Kwai Tsing District District of Hong Kong. It is also part of Tsuen Wan New Town. In 2000, it had a pop ...

and Cherry Street in

Tai Kok Tsui Tai Kok Tsui is an area west of Mong Kok in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The mixed land use of industrial and residential is present in the old area. The Cosmopolitan Dock and oil depots were previously located there. Blocks of high-rise residential ...

) was built by a consortium comprising

Kumagai Gumi is a Japanese construction company founded in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The company still has registered headquarters in Fukui, but the actual head office is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. History Santaro Kumagai, the company's founder, be ...

, Maeda Corporation, and China Road and Bridge Corporation. The southern section (between Tai Kok Tsui and the Western Harbour Crossing toll plaza) was constructed by Aoki Corporation. The two contracts commenced on 2 August 1993 and 31 August 1993 respectively. The road was opened on 19 February 1997.

References

External links

Highways in Kowloon

Google Maps of West Kowloon Highway
Expressways in Hong Kong Route 3 (Hong Kong) Sham Shui Po District Tai Kok Tsui West Kowloon {{HongKong-road-stub

History

See also

References

External links