The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday denied that it rejected a plan to build an expressway connecting Hualien and Taitung counties, adding that the project is in the feasibility assessment phase.
“We have completed a preliminary review of the project, and the Highway Bureau has been asked to provide more details. The assessment would focus on the feasibility of constructing the expressway in sections,” Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) told reporters at a news conference in Taipei.
In previous assessments, the cost-benefit of building the expressway was smaller than 1, Chen said, adding that it agreed to reconsider the project after improvements to the transportation infrastructure on the east coast.
Photo: CNA
“The bureau should assess how the expressway would change Hualien and Taitung counties and the tourism industry there. It should also include in its assessment the size and costs of the construction and how it would connect other corridors on the east coast,” he said.
Highway Bureau Director-General Chen Wen-juei (陳文瑞) said that the agency began reassessing the feasibility of building the expressway following a motion passed at the legislature in 2019.
The area assessed by the bureau stretches 174km from Hualien County’s Chungde Village (崇德) south to Taitung City.
Experts were invited to review the project, from the handling of earthworks, funding and economic benefits that the project could generate to its potential effects on the environment and landscape, Chen Wen-juei said.
The bureau last year began hosting information sessions in areas that could be affected by the project, he said.
Based on the Highway Bureau’s plan, the 3km section from Chungde to Hualien County’s Hsincheng Township (新城) could be constructed first, at an estimated cost of about NT$9 billion (US$273.39 million). It could serve as an extension of a section of the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project.
Construction costs of the about 27km section from Hsincheng to Jian Township (吉安) are estimated at NT$90 billion.
The total cost of the highway could reach NT$361.4 billion.
In the past eight years, the ministry has spent NT$326.4 billion on transportation infrastructure projects on the east coast, including NT$104.7 billion on railway projects and NT$221.7 billion on highway projects, ministry data showed.
Of the highway projects, the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project is to cost NT$105.6 billion.
Separately, the Railway Bureau said that it did not reject a plan for the construction of a Keelung MRT system, adding that it is reviewing the project.
The New Taipei City Government, which is in charge of building and operating the system, first submitted the construction plan on Dec. 16 last year, with the construction cost reaching NT$126.154 billion, Railway Bureau Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) told reporters.
However, the city’s estimated cost had exceeded the approved funding cap of NT$69.589 billion, Yang said.
Following the bureau’s review in January, the city government submitted a revised construction plan on Feb. 12, which the bureau is reviewing, he said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS