A road improvement project got underway on Friday as the Highways Department began resurfacing a busy stretch of Lung Cheung Road in Kowloon, with the entire operation slated for completion by September.

The initiative, which involves phased overlay paving on the eastbound lanes, will resurface a 900-metres stretch of concrete carriageway with a new bituminous material, promising smoother driving conditions and enhanced road quality for the thousands of motorists who rely on the thoroughfare daily.

At the heart of the project is an innovative "ultra-thin overlay" material that officials say will drastically cut construction time.

Senior maintenance engineer Caleb Chu said that traditional repairs often involved breaking up old concrete — a laborious process that could require full lane closures for days at a time.

"If you take a 100-metre distance covering one traffic lane, the entire project would take two to three weeks — and that’s just for one lane," he said.

"With the new material, we can lay 100 metres of one lane in a single night. For three lanes, the result would be much faster."

The project is divided into two stages. The first phase covers 500 metres from Plaza Hollywood in Diamond Hill to the Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool.

To keep daytime traffic flowing, most construction will take place at night between 9pm and 6am.

During these hours, at least one to two lanes will remain open, though some slip roads — including those at Tai Hom Road and the Tate's Cairn Tunnel — will be temporarily closed between 1am and 6am on selected nights.

Chief Highway Engineer Shirley Leung expressed confidence that all lanes will be fully operational by morning rush hour, thanks to the material’s rapid curing properties.

"This material is very thin – 20 millimetres – which is thinner than our conventional materials. After laying, the curing time for it to dry is greatly reduced," she said.

"Previously it took two to three hours, but now it dries in one hour, so we can finish laying at night and reopen the road by 6am the next day."

Phase one is expected to wrap up within August, after which the second stage will commence.

That stretch will cover the remaining 400 metres, running from the Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool to the Ngau Chi Wan Fire Station.




Edited by Robert Kemp