Castle Peak Road

Castle Peak Road is the longest road in Hong Kong. Completed in 1920, it runs in the approximate shape of an arc of a semi-circle. It runs West from Tai Po Road in Sham Shui Po, New Kowloon, to Tuen Mun, then north to Yuen Long then east to Sheung Shui, in the very north of the New Territories. It is divided into 22 sections. It serves south, west and north New Territories, being one of the most distant roads in early Hong Kong.

Castle Peak Road
青山公路
Route information
Length51.5 km (32.0 mi)
Existed1920–present
Major junctions
South endTai Po Road at Sham Shui Po
Major intersectionsCheung Sha Wan Road at Cheung Sha Wan
Route 7 and Route 8 at Lai Chi Kok
Kwai Chung Road at Kwai Hing
Texaco Road at Tai Wo Hau
Route 9 at Tsuen Wan
Route 9 at Lam Tei
Route 9 at Tai Lam
Route 9 at Yuen Long
Kam Tin Road at Au Tau
Route 9/San Sham Road at Chau Tau
Route 9 at Pak Shek Au
North endFan Kam Road at Sheung Shui
Location
CountryChina
Special administrative regionHong Kong
Highway system
Castle Peak Road (Kowloon portion)
Chinese青山道
Castle Peak Road (New Territories portion)
Chinese青山公路

Name
Castle Peak Road in Tsuen Wan.

The road was named after Castle Peak, a peak in the western New Territories. The area to the east of the peak was hence named Castle Peak. Later at the dawn of the development of new town, the area was renamed to its old name, Tuen Mun.

The road was originally known in Chinese as Tsing Shan To (青山道) for its entire length. The Chinese name of the section of the road in the New Territories was later changed to Tsing Shan Kung Lo (青山公路) Lit. "Castle Peak public road" or "Castle Peak Highway". In everyday conversation, however, the term Tsing Shan To survives for the stretches within Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long.

History

The road was constructed soon after the British leased the New Territories in 1898. Speaking in the Legislative Council in 1909, Governor Frederick Lugard cited the facilitation of trade and police control as reasons for the road's construction.[1] It was built and gradually widened in sections.

Route

New Kowloon

The road starts east at Tai Po Road in Sham Shui Po and passes through Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok in New Kowloon. On both sides of the road are old residential blocks, with some dated back to pre-World War II. Towards Lai Chi Kok, it is surrounded by industrial buildings instead. The road is one-way eastbound between Kom Tsun Street & its terminus at Tai Po Road.

New Territories
Castle Peak Road near San Hui, Tuen Mun.

After leaving New Kowloon, it goes uphill past Kau Wa Keng and Tai Ching Cheung along a four-lane expressway to Kwai Chung and downhill into Tsuen Wan. The stretch within Tsuen Wan is also commonly called "main road" (大馬路), especially among the older generations.

Next, it goes along the south shore of the Western New Territories, via Yau Kom Tau, Ting Kau, Sham Tseng, Tsing Lung Tau, Tai Lam, Siu Lam and So Kwun Wat and then reaches the Tuen Mun New Town, which was also known as Castle Peak (after which the road was named). Much of this stretch was bypassed by Tuen Mun Road between 1977 and 1983.

It continues north-east as a six-laned road, paralleling the Light Rail through Lam Tei, Hung Shui Kiu, Ping Shan and goes through another new town, Yuen Long New Town. The section within Yuen Long, again, is also commonly called "main road" (大馬路). This section was bypassed by the Yuen Long Highway in 1992.

It then turns north at Au Tau, just west of Kam Tin. This section is paralleled by San Tin Highway, constructed between 1991 and 1993. It then passes through Mai Po, San Tin, Lok Ma Chau (near the Chinese border), Pak Shek Au and Kwu Tung before terminating at Fan Kam Road in Sheung Shui.

See also

References
  1. Official Record of Proceedings. Hong Hong Hansard. 7 October 1909. p. 138.
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