Hsuehshan Tunnel may be finished by late June

Premier Su Tseng-chang, center, is accompanied by Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chi, right, and other officials during an inspection tour of the Hsuehshan Tunnel yesterday. PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday that the Hsuehshan Tunnel could be completed before the end of June.

"When all the necessary safety checks have been done, it will be time for us to pick a good day to announce the completion of the tunnel and hopefully it will be sometime before the end of June," Su said.

He made the remarks while leading a group of government officials to inspect the tunnel's construction site to learn about the project's latest developments.

He declared himself satisfied with the current status.

The Hsuehshan Tunnel connects Pinglin (坪林) Township in Taipei County and Toucheng (頭城) Township in Ilan County as part of the 31km Peiyi Freeway, running from Nangang (南港) in Taipei City to Suao (蘇澳) in Ilan.

The tunnel has been under construction for 14 years and, at 12.9km long, will be the world's fifth-longest.

At the Pinglin Traffic Control Center, as technicians prepared to conduct tests on the tunnel in the presence of the premier Su had some questions for them.

"Do we have enough room to evacuate people if accidents happen in the tunnel? Do we have enough emergency phones inside the tunnel? Do we have a network connection for our cellphones if we are stuck in the tunnel? These are all very important questions and its vital that we get answers before the tunnel is opened to motorists," the premier said.