Toll-free Tuen Mun airport tunnel link set to open by Xmas

The Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link is expected to fully open by Christmas, allowing drivers to reach the airport from Tuen Mun in 10 minutes, sources said.

The HK$44.8 billion project, whose construction started in 2013, provides a direct route between the Northwest New Territories and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and offers an alternative route to the Hong Kong International Airport.

Its southern connection - viaducts linking the mega bridge and the North Lantau Highway - opened in late 2018.

The northern connection, which connects Tuen Mun to the bridge's Hong Kong port via a sub-sea tunnel, is expected to open by the end of next month after a delay of two years.

It will be free of charge.

The 8.1-kilometer northern connection has been named Tuen Mun Chek Lap Kok Tunnel Road. It starts from its junction with Lung Fu Road in Tuen Mun and ends at junctions with Chek Lap Kok Road and Shun Long Road - the latter connecting Hong Kong Port and North Lantau Highway.

Currently, it takes Tuen Mun residents at least 45 minutes to get to the airport via Tuen Mun Road, Ting Kau Bridge, Lantau Link and the North Lantau Highway.

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan believes the government will announce the opening date today and make the new link free.

He said it will also announce scrapping the toll for Lantau Link, which connects Lantau and Tsing Yi.

Currently, private vehicles and taxis heading to and from the airport have to stop twice at the Lantau Link Main Toll Plaza to pay a total of HK$30 for using Lantau Link.

Chan said the government originally planned to charge a fee for the new link, but his party persuaded the government to think otherwise.

"Residents living in remote areas like Tung Chung only have one road [to head to urban areas] and there is no free route for them," he said.

The lawmaker said it is unfair for Lantau residents to have to pay toll fees all the time, unlike citizens who live in other districts.

The new link can help Tuen Mun residents save financially too as they can avoid paying the Tai Lam Tunnel toll fee when traveling to the airport. Chan believes many people, especially those driving from Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, will change to the new link to save time and money.

"The new Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Tunnel can also help divert traffic on Ting Kau Bridge, which is always jammed now."

Chan said bus companies are considering running some routes between the New Territories West and the airport via the link.

Chan also hopes the plan to allow Hong Kong people to drive their Hong Kong vehicles to Zhuhai without a mainland license plate on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge can launch after the new link opens.