Local authorities are considering the possibility of keeping the new Macau Bridge open during a typhoon signal no. 8, although more data needs to be gathered before a decision is made. That’s according to various media outlets, which cited a press conference yesterday involving the chief of the Public Work Bureau’s infrastructure construction division, Wong Kuok Heng.
Currently, the three other Macao-Taipa bridges cease operations 90 minutes after a no. 8 typhoon signal is issued (although the Sai Van Bridge’s lower deck opens during this period to facilitate vehicular traffic).
However, the 3.05-kilometre Macau Bridge is installed with wind barriers that should allow vehicles to cross the structure during a typhoon no. 8, when sustained wind speeds can reach 117 kilometres an hour.
[See more: Get a chance to walk across the Macau Bridge before it opens to cars]
Wong said the government would collect data on the effectiveness of the wind protection barriers during the next typhoon no. 8 that occurs after the bridge’s opening. Afterwards, a decision will be made on whether or not it is safe to operate the bridge during such an extreme weather event.
An opening date for the bridge has yet to be announced.
At the same press conference, Wong and the head of the Transport Bureau’s traffic planning division, Un Chao Wa, also announced the new roads that are due to open tomorrow in Urban Zone A – an as yet unnamed reclamation area to the northeast of Macao that is mainly reserved for residential development. They include Avenida de Bonança, which serves as an additional link between the zone and the Macao Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
New traffic flows, signs and lights have also been put in place.
