Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man said yesterday that the government has preliminarily concluded that it would be feasible to launch a project to extend the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) East Line to the Qingmao pedestrian border checkpoint.
Tam also reaffirmed that the execution of the extended LRT East Line project could be expected to be difficult because of the complexity of the respective area’s geological conditions.
Tam made the remarks when replying to oral interpellations by lawmakers during yesterday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle.
The ongoing LRT East Line project, which got off the ground in 2023, 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.
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.
During yesterday’s plenary session, Tam noted that last year’s transfer of jurisdiction of a V-shaped area, located southeast of Zhuhai’s Gongbei checkpoint, from Zhuhai City to Macau has statutorily enabled Macau to extend the LRT East Line to the Qingmao checkpoint.
After the transfer, the local government launched a study last year on the feasibility of launching a project to extend the LRT East Line to the Qingmao checkpoint.
Tam said yesterday that after the study, the government has preliminarily concluded that the extended project would be feasible.
Tam underlined that as the feasibility study is still ongoing, for the time being the government will not come up with an estimated budget and construction period for the extended project.
Tam noted that the future extended LRT East Line section will also be an underground one running beneath the Barrier Gate checkpoint and its adjacent Dr Sun Yat-sen Municipal Park before arriving at the Qingmao checkpoint, adding that the extended project could be expected to be difficult because of the complexity of the respective area’s geological conditions.
This handout photo downloaded from the Public Works Bureau’s (DSOP) website yesterday shows the ongoing LRT East Line project next to the Barrier Gate checkpoint in December last year.
