TD launches trial of diagonal crossings at junction of Carnarvon Road and Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui (with photo)

     The Transport Department (TD) announced that the works for diagonal crossings at the junction of Carnarvon Road and Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui have been completed, and the crossings are open for use today (August 2). This is the second trial location under the trial scheme for diagonal crossings, following the one at the junction of Sha Kok Street and Yat Tai Street in Sha Tin.
      
     The trial scheme provides additional pedestrian crossings through the centre of appropriate junctions to give pedestrians the option to take a diagonal route to cross the road directly to the footpath on the other side, shortening the walking distance and time required. As the traffic flow at junctions in Hong Kong is relatively heavy, the characteristics of individual junctions, including factors such as traffic and pedestrian flows, the crossing distance and time required, need to be carefully examined during the selection of suitable junctions for trial, to ensure that adequate vehicular capacity can still be maintained at signalised junctions after the provision of diagonal crossings to avoid causing serious impact on the overall traffic.
      
     The overall operation of the diagonal crossings at the trial in Sha Tin has been smooth to date. The TD will continue to carefully observe the operation of the two trial locations in Sha Tin and Tsim Sha Tsui, with a view to formulating a design standard for diagonal crossings suitable for the traffic conditions and pedestrians in Hong Kong.