 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "West Kowloon Highway" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
|---|---|
| Part ofRoute 3 | |
 West Kowloon Highway, nearOlympic station | |
 | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained byHighways Department | |
| Length | 5 km (3.1 mi) |
| Existed | 1997–present |
| Restrictions | Speed limit: Yau Ma Tei Interchange - 80 km/h Rest of the road - 100 km/h |
| Major junctions | |
| North end | Tsing Kwai Highway |
| South end | Western Harbour Crossing |
| Location | |
| Country | China |
| Special administrative region | Hong Kong |
| Highway system | |
| West Kowloon Highway | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 西九龍公路 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
West Kowloon Highway is a section ofRoute 3 inHong Kong, built as part of theAirport Core Programme. This dual-three-lane expressway runs for 4.2 km (2.6 mi), connectingWestern Harbour Crossing in the south withTsing Kwai Highway in the north. While the southern section of the road is at grade, the northern part is on a viaduct in order to accommodate theMTRTung Chung line and theAirport Express.
It is not to be confused with the olderWest Kowloon Corridor (currently part ofRoute 5), which is partly parallel to the West Kowloon Highway.
This expressway originally had a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph), but it was increased to 100 km/h (60 mph) because of the smooth shape of the road.
The highway was constructed as part of theAirport Core Programme; a major function of the new highway was to facilitate access to the newHong Kong International Airport fromHong Kong Island andKowloon. It was built entirely on theWest Kowloon Reclamation, an area of artificial land reclaimed fromVictoria Harbour, also under the Airport Core Programme.
The road design and engineering consultancy was awarded toFreeman Fox Maunsell in 1990.[1]
The northern section (betweenKwai Chung andCherry Street inTai Kok Tsui) was built by a consortium comprisingKumagai Gumi,Maeda Corporation, andChina Road and Bridge Corporation. The southern section (between Tai Kok Tsui and the Western Harbour Crossing toll plaza) was constructed byAoki Corporation. The two contracts commenced on 2 August 1993 and 31 August 1993 respectively.[2]
The road was opened on 19 February 1997.[3]
| Preceded by Western Harbour Crossing | Hong Kong Route 3 West Kowloon Highway | Succeeded by Tsing Kwai Highway |
22°19′37″N114°09′08″E / 22.32700°N 114.15233°E /22.32700; 114.15233
