The new bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong will cut costs and travel time to the Pearl River Delta

The long-awaited bridge linking Hong Kong to Macau and Guangdong Province in the Chinese mainland is set to get off the ground after the three jurisdictions agreed on the financing arrangement for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The plan was unveiled by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang and Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua at the 11th Hong Kong-Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference last month. The three governments have agreed to shoulder the costs of constructing the main bridge, which will start no later than 2010, and is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

The Central government will subsidise part of the project. Its contribution, together with that of the Guangdong Provincial Government will total about US$1 billion, making the mainland the biggest contributor. The three governments will contribute 42 per cent of the US$5.5 billion project. The remaining amount will be financed through loans.
 
The funding agreement, which previously involved the project being tendered to the private sector under the build-operate-transfer model, means a feasibility study report, as well as the tendering of the bridge design, can proceed at full speed. The three sides are also due to come up with a formal agreement and institutional set-up for the mega-project's implementation.

Economies to benefit

Officials have said the bridge will further enhance the economic development of Hong Kong, Macau and the western Pearl River Delta (PRD), significantly cutting costs and travel time between Hong Kong and the western PRD. The Director of the Institute for Contemporary China Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, Victor Sit, told the South China Morning Post that the new funding arrangement was a win-win situation for all concerned.

A cross-delta bridge was first proposed in 1983, by Hopewell Holdings' Chairman Sir Gordon Wu. But the plan was not again revisited until five years ago, when then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said that a study was being conducted after the government found community consensus to build the bridge. A study submitted to the Hong Kong Legislative Council earlier projected that the bridge, would attract 14,000 vehicles each day. It will be the fifth major cross-border bridge linking Hong Kong to the mainland. A tunnel will link two artificial islands, which will provide bridge-tunnel switching facilities, to ensure that sea traffic in the main navigation channels near the Guangzhou and Shenzhen ports would not be disrupted.

Under the plan, each government will shoulder the cost of connecting roads and border-crossing facilities to the bridge within their boundaries.The 29.9 kilometre, dual three-lane bridge, set to become one of the world's longest bridge networks, will provide a direct link for passengers and freight traffic headed for the western PRD. The area now mainly relies on water transport. The main body of the bridge will run from San Shek Wan on Hong Kong's Lantau Island, to Gongbei in Zhuhai and A Perola in Macau. The bridge would shorten the distance from Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai to 30 kilometres, reducing travel time by half an hour. The project is listed in the Chief Executive's policy speech as a priority and one of the 10 key infrastructure projects designed to foster economic growth in the PRD region.