Hong Kong’s Central Kowloon Route set for full December opening

Hong Kong’s Central Kowloon Route will be fully commissioned in December when its Kowloon Bay section opens to traffic, the city’s transport chief has said. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan told a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday that the section would open on December 6. The opening will complete Route 6, which also includes the Yau Ma Tei section and the Tseung Kwan O–Lam Tin Tunnel.

The Yau Ma Tei section opened at the end of last year. Chan said the completed route would connect traffic between Kowloon West, Kowloon East and Tseung Kwan O. “Once fully open, Route 6 will seamlessly connect traffic between Kowloon West, Kowloon East, and Tseung Kwan O,” she said.

Authorities expect the journey across the entire route to become substantially shorter. Chan said travel time was projected to fall from around 65 minutes to about 12 minutes. Construction of the Central Kowloon Route began in 2017.

The project is a key part of Route 6, which is intended to provide the new connection across the city’s Kowloon areas. Chan said officials had spent recent months testing fire-safety equipment and other facilities. She described the project as being in its final preparation stage.

Relevant departments had reported that progress was smooth, she said. Before the official opening, authorities would continue preparing the route’s systems, public-transport arrangements and roadworks. The supplied material did not provide an estimated construction cost, details of traffic restrictions after opening or information about projected usage.

The December 6 opening date and the expected reduction in journey time were the main details given by the transport secretary.