The Jiugongli (九宮里) section near the 112.6km milepost of Suhua Highway (蘇花公路) is to be opened again for guarded two-way traffic today, the Directorate General of Highways (DGH) said yesterday.
One lane will be open to two-way traffic from 4pm to 6pm today, which will be expanded to three times per day starting tomorrow, it said.
The agency made the decision after using unmanned aerial vehicles to evaluate road conditions and generate short and long-term repair plans for the highway, which was closed as a result of multiple rockslides that began on Sunday.
As yesterday was the last day of the four-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, motorists were worried after many were stuck in Hualien because of the damaged highway, with the Maritime Port Bureau launching extra ferries to shuttle passengers along with their cars.
The ferry trips were increased from the originally planned two trips per day to three, with a maximum capacity of 734 vehicles per day.
Traffic at Hualien Airport was normal, while Taitung Airport had about seven or eight passengers on standby, which authorities said was normal.
Maritime Port Bureau section head Lai Ping-jung (賴炳榮) said there were hundreds of private vehicles and 11 buses waiting to be ferried when he arrived at Hualien Port yesterday morning, and a few passengers were visibly upset and anxious that they might not be able to get home in time.
However, they waited in line after bureau officials explained that they would all be shuttled yesterday, he said.
The DGH said its short-term plan is to first use its self-created method of stone or concrete-filled cargos as temporary roadbed to repair the highway, allowing it to be opened for two-way traffic using one lane from 6am to 8am, 12pm to 1pm, and 4pm to 6pm every day, starting tomorrow.
The longer term plan will involve applying a concrete frame vegetation engineering method to repair the road, which is expected to take up to five months, because the section is located at a steep slope where it is more difficult to operate road construction equipment, it said.
With the road only open during those periods, the DGH advised motorists to avoid going to mountainous areas if the weather is unstable, and to check its highway real-time traffic conditions system before hitting the road.
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