The Taipei City Government will complete road-smoothing works on 12 major roads by the end of this year, and improve the quality of all municipal roads by 2014, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) promised yesterday.
The city government presented its “Smooth Road Project” (路平專案) in May to solve the long-term problem of poor road conditions in the city, and began construction on 12 roads including Zhonghua Road, Linsen Road, Nangang Road, Dunhua N Road, Changan W Road, Wanda Road, Changan E Road, Shipai Road, Dunhua S Road, Xinhai Road, Minquan E Road and Chengde Road.
TOUGH MEASURES
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Hau yesterday inspected the project on Zhonghua Road, and vowed to toughen measures to demand the best quality for the repairs.
“We will make the municipal roads something we can be proud of in Taipei City,” Hau said.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁), however, challenged the city government’s efforts, and said according to IRI values, a standard roughness scale used to estimate road pavement unevenness, the pavement construction on Zhonghua Road, which cost nearly NT$10 million (US$300,000), failed to make the road smooth.
COMPLAINTS
A local resident, surnamed Lee, also complained about the poor quality of the roads, and said scooter drivers have been tolerating the bumpy roads around the city for a long time.
Liu demanded that the city government make contractors redo any construction that fails to meet the city’s quality standards.
PROMISES
Hau promised to demand the highest quality from the contractors, while calling on local residents to cooperate with construction crews since the work sometimes causes traffic congestion and other problems.
He further vowed to ban all illegal road-digging work, and encouraged all residents to report any illegal activities to the city government.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
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