Kai Tak Tunnel
Encyclopedia
New Kowloon
New Kowloon is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong, bounded in the south by Boundary Street, and in the north by the ranges of the Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Tate's Cairn and Kowloon Peak...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, which connects the Kowloon Bay
Kowloon Bay
Kowloon Bay is a bay located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is the eastern portion of Victoria Harbour, between Hung Hom and Lei Yue Mun...
and To Kwa Wan
To Kwa Wan
To Kwa Wan is a bay and an area of the eastern shore of Kowloon peninsula of Hong Kong. The area is part of urban Hong Kong, and is adjacent to Hok Yuen, Hung Hom, Ma Tau Wai and Ma Tau Kok...
areas by going beneath the former Hong Kong International Airport
Kai Tak Airport
Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. It was officially known as the Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, when it was closed and replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 km to the west...
(Kai Tak Airport). It is part of Route 5
Route 5 (Hong Kong)
Route 5 is a route artery in Hong Kong from eastern to western Kowloon and New Kowloon, and ends in Tsuen Wan in the New Territories, linking Route 9....
. It provides a quick link between the two ends of the tunnel, as before the construction of the tunnel vehicles have to detour through Kowloon City
Kowloon City
Kowloon City is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is named after the Kowloon Walled City, and is administratively part of Kowloon City District....
to reach the other end.
Construction of the tunnel started in 1976, but because of the difficulties in digging under the airport runway, it was not complete until 1982. It was known as Kowloon Bay Tunnel (九龍灣隧道) at the time of its opening, and it was also the first tunnel in Hong Kong to be toll-free, excluding short underpasses.
The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes of about 7m diameter each, 1.26 km long. The southern tube carries west-bound traffic from Kowloon Bay to Ma Tau Kok
Ma Tau Kok
Ma Tau Kok is a place between To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Chung in Hong Kong. It was a cape in Kowloon Bay in Victoria Harbour and opposite to the Sacred Hill at Ma Tau Chung.-Cattle Depot Artist Village:right|275px|thumb|Cattle Depot Artists Village...
. A point of interest is that the eastbound tunnel branches off onto Sung Wong Toi Road. It is the only major vehicular tunnel in Hong Kong built entirely by the cut-and-cover technique.
Many major express bus routes of Kowloon Motor Bus
Kowloon Motor Bus
The Kowloon Motor Bus Company Limited , a company of the Transport International Holdings Limited, is the largest franchised bus operators in Hong Kong, and one of the largest privately owned public bus operators in the world...
between Kowloon and the eastern end of New Kowloon travel through the Kai Tak Tunnel. Most of them run between the Kwun Tong District
Kwun Tong District
Kwun Tong is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon. It had a population of 562,427 in 2001. The district has the third highest population while the income is below average....
and Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui , often abbreviated as TST, is an urbanized area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui...
. They include 13X, 98D, 98P, 215X, 219P, 219X, 296D. Westbound departures of routes 11X and 28 also run through Kai Tak Tunnel. In total, an estimated 60000 vehicles use the tunnel each day.
With Kai Tak Airport
Kai Tak Airport
Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. It was officially known as the Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, when it was closed and replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 km to the west...
's shutdown in 1998, the Airport Tunnel no longer fulfilled its name. The Hong Kong Government announced on March 2, 2006 that the tunnel be renamed to Kai Tak Tunnel, effective from May 4, 2006, after several years of consultation with groups including the Kowloon City District
Kowloon City District
Kowloon City District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon. It had a population of 381,352 in 2001. The district has the third most educated residents while its residents enjoy the highest income in Kowloon....
Council
District Council of Hong Kong
The District Councils, formerly District Boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 Districts of Hong Kong. Under the supervision of Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, they are consultative bodies on district administration and affairs.- History :In 1982, under the...
.