Taipei residents should be prepared for serious traffic congestion around the Xinsheng overpass (新生高架橋) starting today as its southbound side and a section of the northbound side will be closed until Sept. 30 for repairs, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
The southbound side of the overpass from the Yuanshan (圓山) approach road to Jinan Road and the northbound side from Minsheng E Road to the approach road will be closed from today as Taipei City’s New Construction Department replaces the approach road with an entrance ramp.
Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), director of Taipei City Police Department’s Traffic Division, encouraged drivers heading to Shilin (士林) and western areas of Beitou (北投) to take alternate routes using Chengde, Chongqing N or Huanhe N roads. Drivers heading for Dazhi (大直) and eastern areas of Beitou can take Beian, Fuxing N or Minquan E roads, or use the Jianguo overpass.
Heavy traffic is also expected on Zhongshan N Road between Jiantan and Minzu E roads, and drivers should take alternative routes at peak hours between 8am to 9am and from 6pm to 7pm, he said.
Fang said about 3,000 cars travel on the overpass during rush hour every day. Traffic control will be especially enforced on roads heading toward Shilin, Tamsui (淡水) and Dazhi to help traffic flow.
Wu Chun-hsien (吳俊賢), director of the construction department, said the work would ease congestion in the Yuanshan area, a major transfer center for traffic to Shilin, Beitou and Neihu (內湖). Drivers will be able to travel more directly to Shilin and Beitou from Zhongshan N Road, Wu said.
For more information, visit the Department of Transportation’s Web site at dot.taipei.gov.tw.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
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WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three