East Kowloon Corridor

East Kowloon Corridor (Chinese: 東九龍走廊; aka East Kowloon Way[1]) is a motorway in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Part of Route 5, it is a dual two-lane carriageway viaduct running from the western exit of Kai Tak Tunnel near Sung Wong Toi Road to its ramp on Chatham Road North between Lo Lung Hang Hill and the western side of Hung Hom, to the northnortheast of Fat Kwong Street Flyover.

East Kowloon Corridor near Ko Shan Theatre

Description

Since its completion in 1981, East Kowloon Corridor, together with Airport Tunnel (renamed Kai Tak Tunnel after the airport in 2006 was closed in 1998), play a crucial role in diverting road traffic in Kowloon by feeding traffic between Hung Hom and Kwun Tong by providing a shortcut, thereby avoiding causing traffic congestion in To Kwa Wan, Mong Kok, Kowloon City and Ngau Chi Wan where traffic is already saturated. In particular, East Kowloon Corridor gives drivers an alternative overpass between Hung Hom and Kowloon City.[2][3] In this sense, East Kowloon Corridor serves as an alternative for drivers since it has only two exits and no traffic lights.[4]

Geographically, East Kowloon Corridor runs on top of Kowloon City Road and Ma Tau Wai Road.[5] Just ahead of the entrance to Kai Tak Tunnel lies the only branching exit of East Kowloon Corridor, which goes to Kowloon City Road northbound from the northbound direction, San Shan Road eastbound from the southbound direction, and the only branching entrance to the southbound direction fed from San Shan Road westbound.[5] It descends and joins into Chatham Road North near an intersection with Fat Kwong Street.[4][5]

Although the road is named East Kowloon Corridor, its location for some purpose is often considered to be in West Kowloon. The word "East" is used in order to disambiguate from West Kowloon Corridor, which is situated farther west near Lai Chi Kok. Furthermore in the earlier decades, To Kwa Wan and Hung Hom both lied in the eastern half of Kowloon Peninsula with the British Section of the KCR serving as the boundary, and the area now known as East Kowloon was part of New Kowloon. However, the entire peninsula is now integrated into West Kowloon.[6]

Effect on surroundings

As many buildings were already built around Kowloon City Road and Ma Tau Wai Road before East Kowloon Corridor was constructed, residents in the district, especially those living in lower floors of buildings on the sides of the flyover, were strongly affected by the noise generated from car engines during rush hour.[7] Many residents have already moved out from those buildings and the buildings were turned into commercial or other uses.

References
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  1. https://www.td.gov.hk/en/traffic_notices/index_id_64517.html http://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20010512/es22001051271-6.pdf
  2. Hong Kong Guide 2006 (Photomap Edition), Survey and Mapping Office, HKSAR
  3. Hong Kong Guide 2004 (Photomap Edition), Survey and Mapping Office, HKSAR
  4. Hong Kong Driving Guide 2006 (香港街道駕駛指南（第十年版）), Universal Publications Ltd., Hong Kong. ISBN 962-8797-39-5
  5. Centamap
  6. "Section 3, Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance 1966". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.; "Fourth Schedule to the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance 1966". Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012. Legal definitions of Kowloon, Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon
  7. LegCo reference on noise problem caused by East Kowloon Corridor
Preceded by
Kai Tak Tunnel		 Hong Kong Route 5

East Kowloon Corridor		 Succeeded by
Chatham Road North
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