Installation of the ventilation and traffic control systems in the nation's longest road tunnel have not been completed, but the Ministry of Transport and Communications plans to open it at the end of this year, prompting two opposition lawmakers to wonder yesterday whether officials are endangering the safety of motorists.
People First Party (PFP) legislators Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) and Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said that installation of 36 ventilation machines inside the Hsuehshan Tunnel on the Taipei-Ilan freeway had not been completed, and that the tunnel's traffic control system was not fully tested.
If the government opens the tunnel by the end of the year, then "if something should happen, we would pay a dear price," Lee said.
Lee said that if an accident occurred in the tunnel and traffic flow couldn't be restored within 75 seconds, the air temperature would rise quickly, speeding up oxygen consumption and putting car occupants in danger.
Noting that the tunnel has the capacity to hold up to 5,000 cars at one time based on regulations stipulating a minimum distance of 20m between cars, Lee said that if a traffic jam formed after an accident, emissions would quickly build to dangerous levels.
Liu quoted former deputy transportation and communications minister Chang Chia-chu (
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