New Bypass Finally Opens, Slashing Journey Times

The Central-Wan Chai Bypass was opened to motorists at 8am on Sunday morning, after almost a decade of construction, with traffic running mostly smoothly.

Some drivers reported congestion at the Central exit for the bypass, where police had already warned they would be increasing their presence to check for any parking violations slowing traffic down.

But the real test was set to be Monday morning when many more motorists would be heading to work or dropping their children off at school.

Built at a cost of HK$36 billion, the 4.5-kilometre bypass promises to cut journey times between Sheung Wan and the Island Eastern Corridor in North Point from around half an hour to just five minutes.

It is now completely open for eastbound traffic, but vehicles heading west will not be able to travel all the way to Sheung Wan for around another month, as work continues to connect the bypass to the Rumsey Street Flyover.

For now, westbound motorists will need to exit in Central.

The bypass, which for the most part is in the form of a tunnel, also has exits for Tin Hau and Wan Chai.

Shortly after the bypass opened, an RTHK reporter drove along it from Central to North Point, and at speeds of around 80 kilometres per hour, the journey took just four minutes and 40 seconds.

Construction began in late 2009 and the bypass was originally expected to open in 2017.