Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park.
The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month.
However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Transportation Departmen
“This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang (莊), a local resident who recalled frequently crossing it with his children to take them to school more than 20 years ago.
“The government’s attitude of ‘just tear it down’ without listening to the public shows a lack of connection to the city and an arrogant disregard for culture,” Chuang said.
“Most residents — myself included — hope to keep the bridge,” local borough warden Huang Shih-chuan (黃世詮) said. “Separating pedestrians from vehicles is the safest way.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Located about 500m from National Taiwan Normal University, at the southwest corner of Daan Forest Park, the overpass allowed people to walk over the busy multiple-lane intersection for more than four decades.
Despite many residents’ fondness for the functional — if not classically attractive — pedestrian footbridge, the city government last month announced its plan to demolish it.
The city government’s main policy is to “gradually” replace all the city’s pedestrian overpasses to increase visibility for pedestrians and drivers, as well as to create more space on sidewalks, the Taipei New Construction Office said.
As the city’s population gets older on average, ground-level crossings are considered by city planners to be “safer and more convenient” than bridges.
The Taipei Department of Transportation agreed with the New Construction Office, saying that “current column placements at intersections obstruct right-turning vehicles from clearly seeing pedestrians.”
Referring to a pedestrian overpass bridge that used to stand at the intersection of Xinyi and Keelung roads, the bureau said traffic accidents involving right-turning vehicles had decreased by 60 percent one year after it was removed.
However, some residents want the bridge preserved and say that the city government has not taken their views into account.
Lin Wen-chun (林玟君), one of the organizers of a protest group, said the authorities have failed to explain the necessity of the planned demolition.
“There are 13 sky bridges exceeding 40 years old in use in Taipei City,” Lin said, adding that the oldest has been operational for 55 years.
“The inspection company’s report did not show any structural safety issues, but the city government nonetheless decided to demolish it,” he said, adding that he thinks the New Construction Office should provide “scientific” reasons for the decision.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Monday said he would ask the transportation and public works departments and the New Construction Office to “continue communicating” on this issue.
He is in support of the departments “doing what should be done,” Chiang told department heads during a city government meeting yesterday.
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