The Public Works Bureau (DSOP) says that the government is planning and studying the feasibility of launching a project to extend the Light Rail Transit (LRT) East Line to the Qingmao pedestrian border checkpoint.
The bureau has commissioned a number of construction consultancies to carry out the feasibility study and other respective services.
The ongoing LRT East Line project, which got off the ground last year, is a 7.7-kilometre-long section connecting the Barrier Gate checkpoint at the peninsula’s northern tip and the Taipa Ferry Terminal via the Zone A and Zone E1 land reclamation areas. The East Line will cross the sea between Zone A and Zone E1 through an undersea tunnel.
In December last year, the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee in Beijing passed a decision to authorise the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) to exercise jurisdiction over a land and maritime area southeast of Zhuhai’s Gongbei checkpoint, enabling the Macau government to lease the area from Zhuhai so that the underground LRT station to serve the Barrier Gate checkpoint can be built closer to the checkpoint and the LRT East Line can be extended to the Qingmao checkpoint by running under the Barrier Gate.
Afterwards, Macau enacted its local legislation in May enabling the local government to formally administer the area in compliance with the MSAR’s laws, after which the area’s jurisdiction was transferred from Zhuhai City to the MSAR on May 31.
The V-shaped area covers 3,700.178 square metres, comprising a land area of 1,439.130 square metres and a maritime area of 2,261.048 square metres.
The ongoing LRT East Line project, without the projected extension to the Qingmao checkpoint, is scheduled to be completed in 2028, which the government is aiming to open in 2029.
80 metres closer to Barrier Gate
A DSOP statement on Friday noted that with the V-shaped area’s jurisdiction having been transferred to Macau, it can now be used for the expansion of the LRT East Line project. Consequently, the statement noted, the underground LRT station to serve the Barrier Gate checkpoint, i.e., the ES1 station of the ongoing LRT East Line project, can be built closer to the Barrier Gate checkpoint.
The statement said that the ES1 station will now be built 80 metres closer to the Barrier Gate checkpoint, with one of its entrances and exits to be set up at where the current pick-up and drop-off area for tourist coaches, situated next to the checkpoint and east of the Barrier Gate Plaza, is located.
In addition, the statement said, the ES1 station will also be connected to the Barrier Gate checkpoint building through a pedestrian underpass and a footbridge.
The statement also noted that as the police tactical unit moved its headquarters from a site near the Barrier Gate checkpoint to the Zone E1 land reclamation area at Pac On in Taipa earlier this year, the government is now planning to relocate the pick-up and drop-off area for tourist coaches to the site of the former police tactical unit headquarters, enabling the project to expand the ES1 station to be carried out.
Complex geological conditions
According to the DSOP website, the future extended LRT East Line section will also be an underground one. It will run from the ES1 station, travelling under the Barrier Gate checkpoint and its adjacent Dr Sun Yat-sen Municipal Park, before arriving at the Qingmao checkpoint.
The statement also underlined that the extended LRT East Line project can be expected to be difficult because of the complexity of the area’s geological conditions.
The statement also said that with the aim of enabling the extension project’s planning process to be completed in a shorter time, the bureau decided to launch tenders by invitation for its feasibility study and other respective services.
This file photo downloaded from the Public Security Police’s (PSP) website yesterday shows the Qingmao checkpoint building in Ilha Verde.
