Traffic Starts Trickling Through Tolo Highway

Traffic started trickling through the Tolo Highway by midday on Friday as students and protesters at Chinese University cleared one lane of each direction on the highway, after blocking the entire artery linking the northern New Territories to Kowloon for more than two days.

Some CUHK students had announced overnight that they will open just one lane on each side from 6am, allowing the odd car or motorcycle to pass. However, the government had deemed the road still too dangerous to use, as there was still shattered glass and assorted debris on the road.

Police had also accused protesters of using bow and arrows and other hard objects to threaten subcontracted staff working for the government tried to clear the debris.

It was only at 12.15pm that the authorities officially reopened the highway to traffic – though most lanes remain blocked around the No. 2 bridge by Chinese University where the protesters are camped.

In a statement, Police had expressed deep regret that “rioters” had paralysed the transport network and “blatantly disregard public concern.”

It said Tolo Highway had been “maliciously blocked for over 60 hours, seriously obstructing emergency services and movement of residents in the New Territories.”

A KMB bus route linking Tai Po to Choi Hung resumed services after the highway was reopened, but many Tai Po residents are still reluctant to take a gamble and head out to town.

Many people were seen lining up for buses to Yuen Long, before taking other transport to Kowloon. Some told RTHK they are worried of severe traffic congestion if they took Tolo Highway, so decided to take the circuitous route through Yuen Long.

Others welcomed the reopening of Tolo Highway, saying they'd taken six hours to get to and from Kowloon yesterday. One said they'd try to catch a bus that uses Tolo Highway this evening if the traffic's not too bad.

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