The Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) said yesterday that the construction of a flyover connecting the peninsula’s Areia Preta district and the Zone A land reclamation area – which lies off the north-eastern coast of the peninsula – will start next month.
The flyover will connect Avenida do Nordeste and Zone A by crossing over the busy Oriental Pearl roundabout (Rotunda da Amizade), as well as Avenida da Ponte da Amizade – the avenue leading to the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge.
According to the statement, the construction, which will start on Monday (March 1), will take 500 working days.
Currently, Zone A is connected to the peninsula by one link (Avenida Doutor Ma Man Kei) only, at the busy Oriental Pearl roundabout on the peninsula’s north-eastern coast. Vehicles travelling to and from the man-made island where the Macau and Zhuhai border checkpoints of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) are located – which is located east of the still undeveloped 138-hectare Zone A – can only use this link.
Vehicles coming from the Barrier Gate border checkpoint area typically use the busy Oriental Pearl roundabout before entering the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge. After the opening of the delta bridge in October 2018, the traffic around the roundabout has become much busier.
The government had invited four construction companies to submit quotations for the project, which ranged from 179 million patacas to 228 million patacas, before granting the lowest bidder – Cheong Kong Construction Company Limited – the project’s construction contract, which requires the company to complete the project within 500 working days.
According to yesterday’s statement, the project is a single-direction flyover, running from Avenida do Nordeste to Zone A as well as to Avenida da Ponte da Amizade – i.e. drivers can choose whether to drive to Zone A or Friendship Bridge on the flyover.
The flyover will be 830 metres long in total, the statement said.
The statement noted that traffic in Avenida Doutor Ma Man Kei will be restricted during the construction period.
Due to the temporary traffic control measures in the area necessary for the project, the statement urged drivers who need to use the Oriental Pearl roundabout to start their trip earlier than normal.
The office’s website says that the Rotunda da Amizade flyover project aims to improve the area’s traffic flow. The website warns that “traffic jams often occur” around the roundabout during peak hours, adding that the area’s traffic pressure would further worsen with the future operation of the fourth Macau-Taipa bridge, which will connect the Zone A and Zone E1 land reclamation areas.
This map taken from the Infrastructure Development Office’s (GDI) website yesterday shows the Rotunda da Amizade flyover project indicated by the red dotted line.
