Two years in the making, the new Discovery Bay Plaza bus terminus opened on April 13. Celebrations at the opening day ceremony included lion dances and a ribbon-cutting, and the first bus was welcomed in at 12pm. As part of the opening day celebrations – and to thank residents for their support during the new terminus’ construction – HKR offered free rides to all passengers on all internal bus routes departing between 5.30am and 11.59pm.
The construction of the new bus terminus was proposed in 2016, and work began in 2017 with the relocation of the old golf cart parking lot to the new lot at the Discovery Bay Recreation Club. The old bus terminus closed at the end of February 2017, and the project is scheduled to finish at the end of this year when the shops open in the expanded retail arcade under the newly raised terminus. HKR is now in the process of recruiting tenants for the expanded retail arcade, which will include an international standard ice-skating rink and diversified food and beverage offerings and leisure choices.
Some residents, however, are concerned that HKR’s plans for improvement and expansion will damage the quality of life in DB. From the beginning, when HKR announced the proposal for the new bus terminus in 2016, Amy Yung, DB’s representative on the Islands District Council, has been concerned about the impact it will have on the number of tourists visiting DB. “The commercial area underneath the new bus terminus will bring along yet more tourists,” she says. “I don’t know whether this will affect the tranquillity of our life.”
To contact HKR, email [email protected]. To contact Amy Yung, email [email protected].
Photos courtesy of HKR
Tags: bus, discovery bay, new bus terminal, plaza, terminal
