Roads in Kowloon

The first major road network constructed in Kowloon was centred on Tsim Sha Tsui and fanned outwards toward Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon Tong, Kai Tak and onwards to Kwun Tong.

With the rapid development of air travel and manufacturing industry in the early 1960s, the corridor between Kwun Tong and Mong Kok was enhanced, and in the early 1970s the Prince Edward Road Interchange in Kowloon City adjacent to the old airport at Kai Tak was completed. Traffic flow in this corridor was further improved with the completion of the Princess Margaret Road Flyover, which was the first precast pre-stressed concrete flyover constructed in Hong Kong. The increased capacity of the junction of Argyle Street and Princess Margaret Road provided better access to the then developing residential areas in Kowloon Tong. This flyover was reconstructed in the 1980s to further increase the north / south capacity of the junction to cope with the substantial increase in traffic originating from the New Territories. The flyover is a key element of Route 1 in Kowloon which extends from the Cross-Harbour Tunnel to the Lion Rock Tunnel and beyond to the New Territories.

With the rapid growth of industry in the 1970s, two new roads along the foot of the Kowloon Hills in North Kowloon were constructed to provide a more direct link to the newly developing Container Port at Kwai Chung. These roads, which are known as the Lung Cheung Road and Ching Cheung Road, are now part of Route 7, a trunk road linking Tseung Kwan O in the south eastern New Territories to Kwai Chung. They had been expanded twice from an original two-lane road to the present dual three-lane configuration with grade separation at each of its eight interchanges.

After the opening of the Cross Harbour Tunnel and its Hong Chong Interchange in 1972, and as tunnel use grew, it became essential to improve the roads connecting to it. The completion of the elevated East Kowloon Way in 1981 and the Kai Tak Tunnel in 1982 provided better access to Kwun Tong, and the completion in stages of the West Kowloon Corridor from 1987 to end 1996 shortened journey times between Yau Ma Tei and Lai Chi Kok.

The Kwun Tong Bypass was completed in 1991. It connects the Tate’s Cairn Tunnel and Tseung Kwan O Tunnel, and also the Eastern Harbour Crossing at Cha Kwo Ling, which were opened in 1989.

The Hung Hom Bypass was completed in 1999. It links Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui East with Hung Hom Road in Hung Hom.