Construction of an underground pedestrian walkway linking the future Light Rapid Transit (LRT) East Line’s ES1 Station to the Border Gate Inspection Building kicked off last month, according to new information published by the Public Works Bureau.
Costing 464 million patacas (US$57.7 million), the project is expected to be completed by June 2029, with the construction period capped at 960 working days. The companies in charge of construction include China Construction Engineering (Macau), Nankwong Real Estate, China Railway 16th Bureau Group – Macau Representative Office.
The link will be situated in the current shuttle bus parking area on Praça das Portas do Cerco, and will connect the LRT station to the Border Gate via an underground walkway, as well as a pedestrian footbridge. The project covers an area of approximately 6,100 square metres and will have a basement and ground level.
The basement floor will include the underground passageway, commercial spaces, public toilets and accessible facilities. Meanwhile, the ground floor will house supporting facilities such as the footbridge linking the LRT East Station to the Border Gate checkpoint.
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Originally, the LRT East Line’s ES1 Station was situated to the southeast side of the Border Gate building. However, the station was moved roughly 80 metres closer to the port after China’s State Council granted the SAR government the right to use a V-shaped patch of mainland land to the southeast of the Border Gate for the purposes of further extending the LRT network to the Qingmao Port.
The LRT East Line is currently under construction, with work on the approximately 7.7-kilometre line split into northern and southern sections. The roughly 13.67 billion pataca (US$1.7 billion) project is slated to begin operation in the second half of 2029, connecting the Taipa Ferry Terminal, Urban Zone A and the Border Gate.
