Route 9 is a trunk road linking Lantau and Sha Tin via Tsing Yi Island and West Kowloon (Figure 1). The North Lantau Highway and Lantau Link completed in 1997 form part of this route. Route 9 between Tsing Yi and Cheung Sha Wan (R9T) will connect Lantau Link with the West Kowloon Highway at Cheung Sha Wan. Another section of Route 9 between Cheung Sha Wan and Sha Tin (R9S) will extend the route to Tai Wai in Sha Tin. R9T will provide a route for container traffic from various part of the Territories to have an access to Container Terminal No. 9 currently under construction and other existing container terminals such as Container Terminal No. 8 (CT8). Together with R9S, Route 9 will provide a direct route for traffic from North East New Territories to North West New Territories and to the Airport at Chek Lap Kok. Since its commissioning in 1997, the section of Route 3 comprising Cheung Tsing Highway, Cheung Tsing Tunnel and Tsing Kwai Highway has become a fast link between North West Tsing Yi and West Kowloon. The subsequent opening of the Ting Kau Bridge and the Route 3 Country Park Section in 1998 has attracted further traffic between the North West New Territories and West Kowloon to use these three highways. The traffic impact assessment study for R9T confirmed that these three highways will reach saturation by 2007, and will further operate much beyond capacity by 2011. The completion of R9T will form an alternative route to these three highways. This paper describes the planning and design of the phase 1 high level viaducts that lead upto the proposed Stonecutters Bridge.
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