Major developers have urged government planners to come up with revamped ideas to resolve traffic and movement issues at Kai Tak, including looking again at a monorail system.
It takes about 30 minutes to walk from Kai Tak MTR station to the former runway area, so better transport links are needed, especially considering the developments in the area will be ready for occupation within a year or two, interested parties told The Standard's sister newspaper Sing Tao Daily.
Government planners had proposed a monorail system as an environmentally friendly linkage system between Kwun Tong's business and commercial area to Kai Tak back in 2011.
And Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor came up with a multi-faceted scheme in her 2020 policy address that was held to be "more effective and desirable than a standalone infrastructure."
Lam's proposal included new bus and green minibus routes in the area, a moving walkway network linking the former runway area with the Kowloon Bay Action Area and Ngau Tau Kok MTR Station, and establishing a water-taxi service in the area.
All but a couple of developers involved in the area responded by setting set up a concern group backed by a research team with the aim of offering advice to the Lam administration.
The result was the suggestion that authorities should increase the number of bus and minibus routes to help people access Sung Wong Toi Station and other points outside the Kai Tak area in the fastest way possible. It was also suggested water-taxis could become one of the key transport modes.
Real Estate Developers Association executive committee chairman Stewart Leung Chi-kin also told the newspaper that government plans were quite satisfactory when developers bid for the sites in the area, but a sudden U-turn by authorities made some feel as if they had been deceived. Although developers have now put forward a number of proposals, Leung added, their thinking in that going back to the monorail system could be best as it would be a most cost-effective solution.
It’s a good half-hour walk from the MTR station to the old Kai Tak runway area. SING TAO
