This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Highways Department (HyD). Over the past four decades, HyD has implemented numerous transport infrastructure projects, continuously expanding and enhancing Hong Kong’s public road and railway network to meet the public’s travel demand and accommodate urban development needs. An example is the on-schedule completion of an important major road infrastructure, the Central Kowloon Bypass (Yau Ma Tei Section) (CKB (YMTS)) late last year. The CKB(YMTS) commissioned on 21 December 2025 with a length of 4.7 kilometres connects the Yau Ma Tei Interchange in West Kowloon with the Kai Tak Development Area and Kowloon Bay in East Kowloon, serving as a crucial corridor across central Kowloon. Apart from enabling more convenient transportation, the project also incorporates a range of “people-oriented” elements.

Enhancing transport and commuting convenience

The CKB (YMTS) enables vehicles to bypass existing major roads, significantly reducing travel time between Yau Ma Tei and Kowloon Bay to only about five minutes, thereby saving time and cost, and facilitating Kowloon’s economic connectivity with convenient transport links.

Connecting two districts of diverse cultures

The CKB (YMTS) closely links up the traditional cultures of Yau Ma Tei with the vibrancy of Kai Tak, bringing the two districts closer together, thereby blending the old with the new and integrating community characteristics.

Building community networks

The CKB (YMTS) project integrates leisure and greening elements into the transport infrastructure. Landscaped decks will be built above the tunnel portals at the two sides to enhance the accessibility of pedestrian walkways. The Yau Ma Tei Landscaped Deck will be connected to the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station landscaped deck, enabling direct pedestrian access to the station. The Kai Tak Landscaped Deck, offering views of Victoria Harbour, will provide a more comfortable walking environment for travelling to and from the area around the Kai Tak Sports Park.

Conserving cultural heritage

The CKB (YMTS) traverses the historically and culturally rich Yau Ma Tei area. The Temple Street Night Market, fortune-telling stalls, Jade Hawker Bazaar, and the Grade 2 historic building, namely the Former Yau Ma Tei Police Station, are of cultural significance. The project team strived to preserve these distinctive features and heritage throughout the design and construction stages, and adopted a “re-provisioning first” approach to minimise disruption to Jade Hawker Bazaar merchants.

Overcoming construction challenges

The CKB (YMTS) alignment runs close to seven MTR lines and across various major roads. In the Yau Ma Tei area, the works were surrounded by historic buildings, existing structures, and public facilities. Some locations were just at a distance of about 3.5 metres from residential buildings. During construction, it was necessary to ensure construction safety while maintaining normal operation of public services and traffic. In addition, the project required over 2 400 controlled blasts beneath around 240 structures (including hospitals, schools, and MTR lines), and the impacts were minimised as far as possible through the adjustment of blasting schedules and the use of drill-and-break method under the MTR lines where feasible.

Driving the city development

The CKB (YMTS) not only improves transport efficiency, but also responds to the city’s needs through people-oriented design and cultural conservation. HyD will continue to actively take forward other transport infrastructure projects for a brighter future of Hong Kong.