The Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) yesterday said it would increase the number of hours for traffic in the summer as well as in the winter on the Central Cross-Island Highway (Highway No. 8), adding that non-residents would still be barred from traveling on the highway.
Built by military veterans, the 190km roadway connecting Greater Taichung and Hualien County was opened in 1960. It was severely damaged by the 921 Earthquake in 1999. Though the government spent NT$2 billion (US$67 million) repairing the highway following requests from local residents, nearly all the renovation work was destroyed in floods caused by Typhoon Mindulle in 2004.
The DGH eventually decided to suspend reconstruction efforts on the highway.
At present, both local residents and non-residents must bypass the road section between Guguan (谷關) and Deji (德基) in Greater Taichung to access Highway No. 8.
Director-General of Highways Wu Meng-fen (吳盟分) said the DGH had invested NT$400 million in building seven new tunnels on the route since 2010, adding that construction is scheduled to be completed next month.
“We opened the highway for traffic at 7am as well as at 5pm daily starting in November last year,” Wu said. “We estimate that we can have more hours for traffic in May as well as in the summer and winter.”
Wu said there would be seven periods in the summer and five periods in the winter when the highway would be open, adding that it would still be closed at night.
Wu emphasized that the highway was open only to local residents.
Meanwhile, the DGH has published a book on the history of the Central Cross-Island Highway.
According to the DGH, more than 19,000 workers and engineers were involved in its construction.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS