The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) committee yesterday gave its approval to the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project and a plan to construct a highway connecting the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5) and Dongao (東澳) in Yilan County, amid concerns by environmental groups that the projects might further damage the region’s fragile topography.
The Highway Bureau in 2020 completed the Suhua Highway Improvement Project, which covered several sections of the highway: between Suao (蘇澳) and Dongao (東澳) in Yilan County; between Nanao (南澳) in Yilan County and Heping Township (和平) in Hualien County; between Hejhong (和中) and Heren (和仁) in Hualien County; and between Heren and Dacingshuei (大清水) in Hualien County.
The new project covers sections that were not included in the previous project: between Dongao (東澳) and Nanao (南澳), between Heping and Hejhong, and from Heren to Jhongde (崇德) via Dacingshuei.
Photo courtesy of the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee
The Dongao-Nanao section is about 9.3km long, while Heping to Hejhong is about 5.5km. The longest section is from Heren to Jhongde via Dacingshuei, which is about 15.1km.
‘TAROKO’ TUNNEL
The construction of all three sections would involve drilling tunnels and building bridges. For the longest section of the project, a tunnel would be drilled through Taroko National Park.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
Enhancing the safety of the three sections that were not covered by previous projects is necessary, as they have been increasingly damaged by typhoons and heavy rainfall due to extreme weather, Highway Bureau Director-General Chen Wen-juei (陳文瑞) told the committee.
An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale that struck Hualien in April did not affect sections of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project, but it caused landslides at the Heping-Hejhong section and the Heren-Jhongde sections, and crushed one of the bridges there, Chen said.
“The safety of the sections in the previous project was not compromised even when the nation was under the influence of Typhoon Gaemi, but it caused mudflow at the tunnel in Jhongde,” Chen said.
“We hope that the safety of the remaining sections can be improved through the methods used in the Suhua Highway Improvement Project, so that people can have safe and reliable road access all day between Taipei and Hualien,” he added.
Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association researcher Hong Shuo-cheng (洪碩辰) told the committee that improving the safety of the Dongao-Nanao section is not as urgent, as it has experienced fewer landslides and traffic accidents compared with other sections.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS
Environmental Rights Foundation executive director Tu Yo-wen (?又文) said that the project needs a Phase II environmental impact assessment, as questions remain on whether sufficient geological surveys have been conducted given the complex topography of the area.
The costs, technology and construction safety risks involved in the project are much higher and more complex than other freeways and expressways, Tu said.
Both organizations said the construction areas contain rich sources of underground water, but the bureau does not have plans on how to reuse water that might gush out during construction.
Earth excavated during construction is to be transported to Yilan, which is already burdened by the previous project, they said.
The committee approved the project on the condition that the earth removed by the new project can only be stored in Yilan for one year.
The committee also approved the bureau’s proposal to construct a 7.1km-long highway to connect Freeway No. 5 and Dongao to ease traffic congestion in downtown Suao during holidays.
As there is no road access connecting the freeway and sections of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project, motorists traveling to Hualien must get off at the Suao Interchange on the freeway and drive to Dongao via downtown Suao.
This has caused severe traffic congestion in Suao, particularly on weekends and holidays.
The highway would connect the Suao Interchange and Dongao directly. The construction is estimated to cost about NT$27.2 billion (US$832 million).
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