Major Projects A Long-term Necessity: Carrie Lam

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Saturday said the government would stand up to challenges and seek to understand the mindset of opponents to infrastructure projects, as such projects were in the long-term interests of Hong Kong.

Lam was speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, which officially opens on Sunday morning.

She said the bypass was a good example of how such infrastructure projects often face opposition. She said she faced opposition, when she was the development secretary, on the relocation of the Queen's Pier and reclamation, which was needed for the bypass.

The Chief Executive said she felt quite emotional, as it had taken 30 years from devising the road link to getting it operational.

Ahead of the ceremony, Lam had a first-hand look at the bypass, travelling through the link's west-bound tunnel on an open-top bus.

She was joined by transport secretary Frank Chan, finance chief Paul Chan, and Executive Council convenor Bernard Chan. The president of the Legislative Council Andrew Leung and engineering sector lawmaker Lo Wai-kwok were also present.

The tunnel comprises about four-fifths of the 4.5-kilometre bypass, and includes the largest air purification system of its type in the world. The government says the system can remove at least 80 percent of respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen dioxide.

The HK$36-billion dollar bypass will give motorists an option to avoid usually congested areas in Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.

The government says once the bypass is open, drivers will be able to head between North Point and Central in just five minutes.