The Island Eastern Corridor (IEC) is an expressway built along the northeastern shore of

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km2, . The island had a population of a ...

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. It starts from

Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is an area and a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern and the Wan Chai districts. It is a major shopping, leisure and cultural centre in Hong Kong, with a number of major shopping centres. Th ...

in the west and ends in

Chai Wan Chai Wan (; ), formerly known as Sai Wan (西灣), lies at the east end of the urban area of Hong Kong Island next to Shau Kei Wan. The area is administratively part of the Eastern District, and is a mosaic of industrial and residential are ...

in the east. It is mostly part of

Route 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...

. The section between Causeway Bay and

Quarry Bay Quarry Bay is an area beneath Mount Parker in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. The western portion of the area was also formerly known as Lai Chi (). Traditionally an industrial and residential area, the number of comme ...

consists mainly of

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

s built along

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, 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 instrume ...

History

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island developed rapidly. As a result, the major thoroughfare in the area,

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, became very congested.Roads and Railways – Hong Kong Trunk Routes 1
) To relieve the issue of congestion, the idea of constructing an elevated vehicular corridor in the Eastern District was brought out in 1968, as part of the ''Hong Kong Long Term Road Study''. The original plan was to construct an elevated dual carriageway above King's Road, which continues eastward as a ground-level road along the coastline between Sai Wan Ho and

. Such an alignment along King's Road was later discarded in favour of a waterfront viaduct running parallel to King's Road. It was not until 8 April 1981, 20 May 1982 and 5 August 1986 that construction commenced on the three sections of the corridor, respectively. The corridor was opened in three phases:

Taikoo Shing Taikoo Shing or Tai Koo Shing (), is a private residential development in Quarry Bay, in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is a part of Swire's property business, along with Taikoo Place, the adjacent Cityplaza retail and off ...

on 8 June 1984;

Shau Kei Wan Shau Kei Wan or Shaukiwan is a neighborhood in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island. The area is bordered by Chai Wan to the east, Mount Parker to the south, Sai Wan Ho to the west, and Victoria Harbour to the north. Shau Kei Wan is cons ...

on 26 July 1985; and

on 12 October 1989. Work has been done to the expressway several times over its life, including the bridge diversions at

, completed in 2003, where Route 4 joins with

Route 2 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...

. There is also a proposed extension of the Corridor into the hills of Chai Wan and Siu Sai Wan. The section of viaduct near City Garden has also been rebuilt and expanded so that it could become the eastern terminus of the

Central–Wan Chai Bypass The Central–Wan Chai Bypass is a trunk road running between Sheung Wan and Fortress Hill on Hong Kong Island. The original design consists of a 2.3 km dual three-lane tunnel running under new reclamation areas provided by the Central and ...

. In 2008, the Island Eastern Corridor became the new venue of the Hong Kong Marathon 10km race, held on 17 February 2008. The race track started from City Garden in

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects toward Kowloon Bay. Locat ...

, and ran eastwards until

, where it made a U-turn, back along westbound IEC and ended at Victoria Park, near the western terminus of the IEC. The noise problem caused by the IEC's design became evident as residents complained about noises as high as 60 dB emitting at about five to six o'clock in the morning. In February 2008, the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

announced that it will construct a waterfront promenade between Causeway Bay and Sai Wan Ho, with significant sections at North Point running under Island Eastern Corridor, using floating boards. However, the Government is concerned about the plan violating the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, since the boards may need to extend seabound due to the lack of space. Further study will take place regarding the feasibility of the project. When it is finished, a continuous promenade will be formed between

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and Sai Wan Ho, together with recreational land use projects related to the

Alignment

The corridor starts at Causeway Bay as a viaduct, where it joins

Victoria Park Road Victoria Park Road () is a road in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Its western section between Gloucester Road and Island Eastern Corridor before the completion of Central–Wan Chai Bypass, served as a portion of Route 4. It starts at the junction of ...

and Gloucester Road with a ramp. It then heads east along the coast of North Point, still a viaduct until it comes to Quarry Bay where it descends onto ground level, and interchanges with the approach road of

Eastern Harbour Crossing The Eastern Harbour Crossing, abbreviated as "EHC" (), is a combined road-rail tunnel that crosses beneath Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Opened on 21 September 1989, it connects Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island and Cha Kwo Ling, Kowloon East. ...

. After passing Taikoo Shing, the corridor becomes a viaduct again, now crossing between Sai Wan Ho and

Aldrich Bay Aldrich Bay (), named after Major Edward Aldrich (), was formerly a bay in the north shore on the Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is now reclaimed and is a housing area outside the area of Shau Kei Wan, neighbouring A Kung Ngam and Lei K ...

, making a broad curve toward the

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence The Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence is a museum in Hong Kong, located in a former coastal defence fort overlooking the Lei Yue Mun channel, near Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island. The fort was built by the British in 1887, intended to def ...

, where it returns to ground level and runs past

A Kung Ngam A Kung Ngam () is a village and an area in northeast Shau Kei Wan in the northeast of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It contains a fish terminal market, several temples and the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. Name ''A Kung'' literally ...

and Heng Fa Chuen all the way towards Chai Wan. It ends near Chai Wan Park, at a large roundabout with Chai Wan Road and Wan Tsui Road in Chai Wan, just next to MTR

Chai Wan station Chai Wan () is the eastern terminus of the MTR on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is the only station on the Island line that is elevated. The station is located at the junction of Chai Wan Road and Island Eastern Corridor, and it serves Siu ...

. The full length of the corridor, save for a small section in Chai Wan between its eastern terminus and Wing Tai Road, is a statutorily-designated expressway (under section 123(1) of the ''Road Traffic Ordinance'', Cap. 374,

Laws of Hong Kong The law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has its foundation in the English common law system, inherited from being a former British colony and dependent territory. There are several sources of law, the primary ones being statute ...

). Speed limit for the expressway portion of IEC is 70 km/h.

Criticism

It is often criticised for using up the seafront which could have been enjoyed by residents of Hong Kong had alternative alignments been chosen. Residents have also complained about traffic noises owing to some sections' proximity to residential buildings, and it could be advised that there would have to be sound barriers installed along this section. It has been suggested that the Watson Road – Tin Chiu Street section of the corridor be replaced with a tunnel, but was never considered due to the complex nature of the necessary works.LCQ17: Suggestion of replacing parts of Island Eastern Corridor with a tunnel
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Junctions along the Corridor

The junctions along the corridor are as follows:

References

External links