Location Kowloon, Hong Kong Start San Shan Opened 1982 | Route Route 5 End Kowloon Bay | |
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Similar Tseung Kwan O Tunnel, Eastern Harbour Crossing, Cross‑Harbour Tunnel, Western Harbour Crossing, Kai Tak Cruise Terminal | ||
kai tak tunnel east bound
Kai Tak Tunnel (traditional Chinese: 啟德隧道; simplified Chinese: 启德隧道; pinyin: Qǐdé Suìdào; Cantonese Yale: kai2 dak1 seui6 dou6), formerly known as the Airport Tunnel (traditional Chinese: 機場隧道; simplified Chinese: 机场隧道) is a tunnel in New Kowloon, Hong Kong, which connects the Kowloon Bay and Ma Tau Kok areas by going beneath the former Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak Airport). It is part of Route 5.
Contents
The tunnel provides a quick link between the two ends of the tunnel, as before the construction of the tunnel vehicles had to detour through Kowloon City to reach the other end. Kai Tak Tunnel is currently managed by Greater Lucky (H.K.) Company Limited.
Journey through kai tak tunnel
History
Construction of the tunnel had started by 1975, but because of the difficulties in digging under the airport runway, it was not complete until 1982. The southern tube opened to two-way traffic at 3:00 pm on 29 June 1982. The second (northern) tube opened on 8 October 1982. The Airport Tunnel was the first tunnel in Hong Kong to be toll-free, excluding short underpasses.
With Kai Tak Airport's shutdown in 1998, the Airport Tunnel was no longer fulfilled to its name. The Hong Kong Government announced to rename to Kai Tak Tunnel on 2 March, 2006 that the tunnel, effective from 4 May, 2006, after several years of consultation with groups including the Kowloon City District Council.
Features
The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes of about 7 metres diameter each, 1.26 km long. The southern tube carries west-bound traffic from Kowloon Bay to Ma Tau Kok. 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 between Kowloon and the eastern end of New Kowloon travel through the Kai Tak Tunnel. Most of them run between the Kwun Tong District and 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.