A $20-billion bridge connecting Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai
is set to finally open this week, marking the completion of the longest
sea-crossing bridge ever built, nine years after construction began.
Chinese
President Xi Jinping is expected to attend a ceremony in Zhuhai on
Tuesday, along with top officials from Hong Kong and Macau, with the
bridge opening to public traffic Wednesday.
The 55-kilometer (34-mile) bridge was originally due to open in 2016, but repeated delays pushed that to this year.
It
is a key element of China's plan for a Greater Bay Area covering 56,500
square kilometers (21,800 square miles) across southern China, and
encompassing 11 cities, including Hong Kong and Macau, that are home to a
combined 68 million people.
Proponents of the idea say the bridge
will cut journey times between the cities from three hours to 30
minutes, which they say will enable commuters and tourists to easily
move around the region.
"With
the bridge, the traveling time between Hong Kong and the Western Pearl
River Delta region will be shortened significantly, thereby bringing the
Western Pearl River Delta region within three hours' drive from Hong
Kong," the city's transport secretary, Frank Chan, said Friday.
Despite
the focus on drive time however, private car owners in Hong Kong will
not be able to cross the bridge without a special permit. Most drivers
will have to park at the Hong Kong port, switching to shuttle bus or
special hire cars once they are through immigration. Shuttle buses cost
$8-$10 for a single trip depending on the time of day.
In
this photo taken on October 7, 2018, a section of the Hong
Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB) is seen from Lantau island in Hong
Kong.
The
world's longest sea bridge, connecting Hong Kong, Macau and the Chinese
mainland will open to traffic on October 24, 2018 officials said, after
complaints about the secrecy surrounding the project.
"You
can't see the existing transport connections -- in a literal way. But
this bridge is very visible ... you can see it from the plane when you
fly in to Hong Kong, and it's breathtaking," lawmaker Claudia Mo Said in an Interview with CNN earlier in the year.
"It links Hong Kong to China almost like an umbilical cord. You see it, and you know you're linked up to the motherland."