page_title: Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System
section_title: Route number system
hierarchical_section_title: Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System / Route number system
caption_attribution_description: English: Eastern entrance of Airport Tunnel, Kowloon, Hong Kong, taken from KMB route 215X.
context_page_description: The Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System is a system adopted by the Transport Department of the Hong Kong Government to organise the major roads in the territory into routes 1 to 10 for the convenience of drivers. When the system was implemented in 2004, the government promoted it with a major public campaign, including the slogan "Remember the Numbers; Make Driving Easier".
  The system comprises nine major series of roads in Hong Kong, numbered routes 1 to 5 and 7 to 10, which can be classified into three categories: the three north-south routes, the five east-west routes and the New Territories Circular Road. The route numbers are displayed as black on yellow "road-shields" on overhead roadsigns.
  The entirety of the system offers some level of limited access, with a significant portion being expressway. The system also utilises exit numbering with the exits of each route are numbered sequentially; some exit numbers are suffixed with a letter. Exit numbers are indicated by white-in-black rectangular boxes on overhead and roadside signs.
context_section_description: The three north-south routes are Route 1, Route 2, and Route 3. They connect Hong Kong Island, metro Kowloon and the New Territories via a series of flyovers and tunnels. They pass through the three tunnels crossing Victoria Harbour, and their sequence of numbering follows the order of opening dates of the three tunnels:
  Route 1: Cross-Harbour Tunnel (opened 1972)
  Route 2: Eastern Harbour Tunnel (opened 1989; formerly Route 6)
  Route 3: Western Harbour Crossing (opened 1997)
  The five east-west routes — Route 4, Route 5, Route 7, Route 8 and Route 10 — are numbered from south to north. The pattern indicates that Route 6 will most likely be built between Routes 5 and 7. Route 4 runs along the north shore of Hong Kong Island, connecting the eastern and western ends of the island, whereas Routes 5 and 7 link southern New Territories with parts of Kowloon. Route 8 provides direct access to Chek Lap Kok Airport, and was extended to Sha Tin in 2008. Route 10 provides access to the border crossing at Shekou, Shenzhen.
  Route 4: formerly Routes 7 and 8 (opened 1990)
  Route 5: formerly Tsuen Wan - Ngau Tau Kok section of Route 2 (opened 1970-1980s)
  Route 7: formerly Route 4 (opened 1970s)
  Route 8: formerly Route 9 (Tsing Yi - Airport section opened 1997; Tsing Yi - Cheung Sha Wan section opened December 2009; Cheung Sha Wan - Sha Tin section opened 2008)
  Route 10 (opened 2007)
  The circular route, Route 9, circumscribes the New Territories, with the exit at the Shing Mun Tunnels in Sha Tin as the starting point of exit-numbering. It links up the network of expressways and trunk roads in the New Territories into a large ring.
  Route 9: formerly Route 5 + Fo Tan - Lok Ma Chau section of Route 1 + Tsuen Wan - Lok Ma Chau section of Route 2 (construction from 1974–2007)
caption: The "Exit 2" and "Route 5" signs at the entrance of Kai Tak Tunnel
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