1
Introduction
1.1.1 The title of the Project is “Traffic
Improvement Scheme in Tuen Mun – Widening and Addition of Slip Roads at Lung Fu
Road / Tuen Mun Road / Wong Chu Road / Hoi Wing Road” (hereafter referred to as
the Project).
1.1.2 The
Tuen Mun - Chek Lap Kok Link Tunnel (TM-CLKT) was commissioned on 27 December
2020. The traffic flow within Tuen Mun District, including Tuen Mun Road (Town
Centre Section) (TMR (TCS)) and its slip roads to and from Wong Chu Road (WCR),
has been gradually increasing after the commissioning of TM-CLKT.
1.1.3 After
the commissioning of TM-CLKT in 2020, Lung Fu Road (LFR), WCR and other local
roads in Tuen Mun will be operating beyond capacity after 2026 due to the
development in the Northwest New Territories and development in North
Lantau. The concerned roads are currently very busy especially during
peak hours. The Project not only helps to relieve traffic congestion in Tuen
Mun area and other major roads in Tuen Mun area but it also improves the
capacity of major local road junction and roads by directing traffic between
Northwest New Territories and North Lantau.
1.1.4 WSP
(Asia) Ltd. (WSP) was commissioned by the Highways Department (HyD) of the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to undertake this
Agreement No. CE 11/2021 (HY) Traffic Improvement Scheme in Tuen Mun – Widening
and Addition of slip roads at Lung Fu Road/ Tuen Mun Road/ Wong Chu Road/ Hoi
Wing Road (Extension Works to Major Roads in Tuen Mun) – Investigation, Design
and Construction for this Project. The commencement date of this Assignment was
28 September 2021.
1.2
Purpose,
Objective and Benefits of the Project
1.2.1 Objectives
of this Project is to relieve the anticipated traffic congestion problems of
WCR, by
·
Provision of new grade separated road links
connecting existing LFR viaduct and Tsing Wun Road (TWR), with a view of
enhancing the attractiveness of the alternative route for Tuen Mun Road (TMR)
& WCR via Tsing Tin Road (TTR), Ming Kum Road (MKR), TWR;
·
Provision of a new
alternative route connecting Tuen Mun Road (Sam Shing Section) (TMR (SSS))
northbound with Castle Peak Road (Castle Peak Bay Section) (CPR(CPBS))
westbound, near Hoi Wing Road (HWR), for traffic towards the southern part of
Tuen Mun;
·
Provision of additional
traffic lane to allow dedicated traffic lanes for traffic heading to Tuen Mun
West and Tuen Mun South, thus minimizing weaving movement at the downstream
section of the heavily trafficked slip road from TMR southbound to WCR westbound
by widening.
1.2.2 After
completion of this Project, attractiveness of the alternative route for TMR
& WCR via TTR, MKR, TWR connecting Yuen Long & the northern part of
Tuen Mun in one side and Tuen Mun Area 40 & TM-CLKT will be enhanced. The bottleneck
at the existing slip road connecting TMR (TCS) southbound and WCR westbound
will be improved.
1.2.3 An
alternative route connecting TMR(SSS) northbound and CPR(CPBS), near HWR will
be provided to relieve the congestion problem of WCR westbound.
1.2.4 This
Project is identified as a medium-term mitigation measure to alleviate the
traffic congestion in WCR before commissioning of Tuen Mun Bypass (TMB).
1.2.5 The
scope of the Project mainly comprises:
·
Construction of a
single elevated road of 800m long approximately connecting TWR southbound and
the existing elevated LFR southbound (hereafter referred to as LFRSR - SB);
·
Modification of the
existing at-grade slip road of 150m long approximately connecting TWR southbound
and WCR eastbound affected by LFRSR southbound;
·
Construction of an
elevated road of 600m long approximately connecting the existing elevated LFR
northbound and TWR northbound (hereinafter referred to as LFRSR - NB);
·
Modification of the
existing at-grade slip road connecting WCR westbound to TWR northbound;
·
Construction of an
at-grade slip road of 550m long approximately connecting TMR(SSS) northbound
and CPR (CPBS) westbound, near HWR (hereinafter referred to as HWRSR);
·
Construction of an
elevated road of 300m long approximately for widening the existing single-lane
elevated slip road connecting TMR (TCS) southbound and WCR westbound
(hereinafter referred to as WCRSR); and
·
Ancillary works
including geotechnical, drainage, sewerage, water, utilities, lighting,
landscaping, construction/reconstruction of noise barriers, retaining walls,
slope improvement, and traffic improvement works.
1.3.1 A
Project Profile (No. PP-620/2021) was submitted to the EPD on 3 May 2021 for
application for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study Brief under
Section 5(1)(a) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) and the
EIA Study Brief No. ESB-339/2021 for the Project was issued on 9 June 2021
under the EIAO.
1.3.2 The
Project comprises the following which are classified as a Designated Project
(DP) under Part I, Schedule 2 of the EIAO:
Item
A.1 - A road which is an expressway, trunk road, primary distributor road or
district distributor road including new roads, and major extensions or
improvements to existing roads
1.3.3 The
proposed road links (See Figure 1.1) under the Project comprise primary distributor road and district
distributor road constituting a DP item under A.1, as follows:
·
Construction of the new
LFRSR - SB of 800m long connecting TWR southbound and existing elevated LFR
southbound which is a District Distributor (DD);
·
Modification of the
existing at-grade slip road of 150m long connecting TWR southbound and WCR
eastbound which is a Primary Distributor (PD);
·
Construction of the new
LFRSR - NB of 600m long connecting existing elevated LFR northbound and TWR
northbound which is a DD;
·
Construction of the new
HWRSR of 550m long connecting TMR(SSS) northbound and CPR (CPBS) westbound
which is a DD; and
·
Widening of the
existing elevated WCRSR of 300m long (from a single lane to single two-lane),
which is a PD, connecting TMR (TCS) southbound and WCR westbound.
Item
A.8 - A road or railway bridge more than 100 m in length between abutments
1.3.4 LFRSR
SB and LFRSR NB are all elevated roads with lengths
between abutments more than 100m.
1.4
Individual
Work Not Constitute Material Change to A Designated Project or to an
Environmental Impact
1.4.1 In
accordance with Section 6.2 of the EIAO-TM, the environmental impact of a
designated project, for which an environmental permit has been issued, is
considered to be materially changed if the environmental performance
requirements set out in the EIA report for the project may be exceeded or
violated even with the mitigation measures in place. The TMR (TCS) is an
expressway (south to WCR) and an urban trunk road (north to WCR). Being a
designated project under Part I of Schedule 2 of the EIAO, it is controlled by
an existing environmental permit (No. EP-342/2009/C) for construction and
operation.
1.4.2 The
EIA Ordinance comes into operation on 1 April 1998. Since LFR has been
completed before the EIA Ordinance was in force, LFR is classified as an
exempted DP under Item I.1(a), Part I, Schedule 2 of the EIAO.
Nevertheless, in accordance with Clause 9(4) of the EIAO, a material change to
an exempted project still requires an environmental permit. A material change
means a physical addition or alteration to a designated project which results
in an adverse environmental impact as defined in section 6.1 of the
EIAO-TM.
1.4.3 To
facilitate the construction of the Project, the following changes to the
existing noise barriers at LFR are required and shown in Figure 1.2. The potential environmental impacts during both construction and
operation phases due to the following changes have been reviewed and addressed
in this EIA report. Based on the findings described in Section 3 and Section 4
for air quality impact assessment and noise impact assessment respectively,
potential air quality and noise impacts due to the following changes to the
existing noise mitigation measures at LFR are not expected to be adverse.
Besides, no other adverse environmental impacts would be anticipated.
Hence, according to Section 6.2 of the EIAO-TM, the following changes to the
existing noise mitigation measures would not constitute a material change to a
designated project or to an environmental impact.
·
Erection of a 5m
vertical noise barrier of approximately 22m in length at LFRSR - SB and
dismantling of the existing ones during the construction of the Project; and
·
Erection of a 3m
vertical noise barrier of approximately 195m in length at LFRSR - NB and
dismantling of the existing ones during the construction of the Project.
1.5
Purpose
of the EIA Study
1.5.1 The
purpose of the EIA study is to provide information on the nature and extent of
environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the
Project and the associated works that take place concurrently. This
information will contribute to decisions on:
·
the overall
acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are likely to
arise as a result of the Project;
·
the conditions and
requirements for the detailed design, construction and operation of the Project
to mitigate against adverse environmental consequences wherever practicable;
and
·
the acceptability of
residual impacts after the proposed mitigation measures are implemented.
1.6
Objectives
of the EIA Study
1.6.1 The
objectives of the EIA study as defined in Section 2 of the EIA Study Brief are
as follows:
(i)
to describe the Project and associated works, and any
options(s) of alignment together with the requirements and environmental
benefits for carrying out the proposed Project;
(ii)
to identify and describe the elements of the community
and environment likely to be affected by the Project and/or likely to cause
adverse impacts to the Project, including both the natural and man-made
environment and the associated environmental constraints;
(iii)
to identify and quantify emission sources and
determine the significance of impacts on sensitive receivers and potential
affected uses;
(iv)
to identify and quantify potential waste management
issues and impacts arising as a result of the construction activities of the
Project;
(v)
to identify and quantify contaminated land within any
Project Area for development works, and to propose measures to avoid disposal
in the first instance;
(vi)
to identify, assess and quantify any potential
ecological impacts arising from the construction and operation of the Project,
including potential losses or damage to flora, fauna and natural habitats; and
to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;
(vii)
to identify any potential landscape and visual impacts
and to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;
(viii)
to identify any negative impacts on cultural heritage
and to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;
(ix)
to propose the provision of infrastructure or
mitigation measures so as to minimise pollution, environmental disturbance and
nuisance during construction and operation of the Project;
(x)
to investigate the feasibility, practicability,
effectiveness and implications of the proposed mitigation measures;
(xi)
to identify, predict and evaluate the residual (i.e. after
practicable mitigation) environmental impacts and the cumulative effects
expected to arise during the construction and operation phases of the Project
in relation to the sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;
(xii)
to identify, assess and specify methods, measures and
standards, to be included in the detailed design, construction and operation of
the Project which are necessary to mitigate these residual environmental
impacts and cumulative effects and reduce them to acceptable levels;
(xiii)
to investigate the extent of secondary environmental
impacts that may arise from the proposed mitigation measures and to identify
constraints associated with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIA
study, as well as provision of any necessary modification;
(xiv)
to design and specify the environmental monitoring and
audit requirements; and
(xv)
to identify any additional studies necessary to
implement the mitigation measures of monitoring and proposals recommended in
the EIA report.
1.7
Structure of the EIA Report
1.7.1 The
background of the Project, description of the Project, objectives and scope of
the EIA study are introduced in this section. Details of considerations
of alternative options are provided in Section 2. Sections 3
to 10 detail the relevant legislation, environmental conditions,
assessment criteria, methodology and results and recommended mitigation
measures of the technical assessments.
1.7.2 Sections
3 to 10 are outlined as follows:
·
Section 3: Air Quality
Impact
·
Section 4: Noise Impact
·
Section 5: Water
Quality Impact
·
Section 6: Waste
Management Implications
·
Section 7: Land
Contamination
·
Section 8: Ecological
Impact
·
Section 9: Landscape
and Visual Impact
·
Section 10: Impact on
Cultural Heritage
1.7.3 An
outline of the requirements for the Environmental Monitoring and Audit
(EM&A) is presented in Section 11. The EM&A programme is
presented in detail in a separate EM&A Manual. A summary of
environmental outcomes is provided in Section 12 and a conclusion of the
whole assessment is given in Section 13.
1.7.4 An
Executive Summary has been prepared as a separate document in both Chinese and
English, which contains summaries of the key findings, recommendations and
conclusions of the EIA Report.