Route Number System
The three north-south routes include Route 1, Route 2, and Route 3. They connect Hong Kong Island, metro Kowloon and the New Territories via a series of flyovers and tunnels. They pass through the three tunnels crossing Victoria Harbour, and their sequence of numbering follows the order of opening dates of the three tunnels:
- Route 1: Cross-Harbour Tunnel (opened 1972)
- Route 2: Eastern Harbour Tunnel (opened 1989; formerly Route 6)
- Route 3: Western Harbour Crossing (opened 1997)
The five east-west routes — Route 4, Route 5, Route 7, Route 8 and Route 10 — are numbered from south to north. The pattern indicates that Route 6 will most likely be built between Routes 5 and 7. Route 4 runs along the north shore of Hong Kong Island, connecting the eastern and western ends of the island, whereas Routes 5 and 7 link southern New Territories with different parts of Kowloon. Route 8 provides direct access to Chek Lap Kok Airport, and is currently being extended. Route 10 provides access to the border crossing at Shekou, Shenzhen.
- Route 4: formerly Routes 7 and 8 (opened 1990)
- Route 5: formerly Tsuen Wan - Ngau Tau Kok section of Route 2 (opened 1970-1980s)
- Route 7: formerly Route 4 (opened 1970s)
- Route 8: formerly Route 9 (Tsing Yi - Airport section opened 1997; Tsing Yi - Cheung Sha Wan section opened December 2009; Cheung Sha Wan - Sha Tin section opened 2008)
- Route 10 (opened 2007)
The circular route, Route 9, circumscribes the New Territories, with the exit at the Shing Mun Tunnels in Sha Tin as the starting point of exit-numbering. It links up the network of expressways and trunk roads in the New Territories into a large ring.
- Route 9: formerly Route 5 + Fo Tan - Lok Ma Chau section of Route 1 + Tsuen Wan - Lok Ma Chau section of Route 2 (construction from 1974–2007)
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong Strategic Route And Exit Number System
Famous quotes containing the words route, number and/or system:
“But however the forms of family life have changed and the number expanded, the role of the family has remained constant and it continues to be the major institution through which children pass en route to adulthood.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)
“He is the richest man who knows how to draw a benefit from the labors of the greatest number of men, of men in distant countries, and in past times.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Delight at having understood a very abstract and obscure system leads most people to believe in the truth of what it demonstrates.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)