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Score of problems holding up highway inauguration
DELAY:
The Yuchang Highway will not be opened before June 16 because the fan system in a 2.66km tunnel needs work and more fire drills have to be held, an official said
By Shelley Shan
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, May 30, 2007, Page 2
The Directorate General of Highways said yesterday it had identified 22 problems to be dealt with before the Yuchang Highway (玉長公路) can be opened to traffic.
The 16km highway, also known as Provincial Highway No. 30, was named the Yuchang Highway because it runs between Yuli Township (玉里) in Hualien County and Changpin Township (長濱) in Taitung County.
It also features the 2.66km-long Yuchang Tunnel -- currently the fifth-longest in Taiwan.
Agency director general James Chen (陳晉源) said the problems included inadequacies in the Yuchang Tunnel's automatic fan system, and that more fire drills needed to be held before the highway could be opened.
The agency would have to coordinate fire drills with the fire departments in Hualien and Taitung, Chen said.
These and other problems were expected to be corrected by June 15, and the highway could then be inaugurated some time after the following day, he added.
The Yuchang Highway would reduce traveling time between Yuli and Changpin townships from two hours to 30 minutes.
The construction of the highway began in 1997 and was originally scheduled to be completed in December this year. Over the years, however, local governments have been urging the government to finish work early.
Inspections
Construction work was completed at the beginning of this month.
The Directorate General of Highways and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications then arranged to conduct their own final inspections on the highway, on April 27 and May 18 respectively.
Chen dismissed a report in yesterday's edition of the Chinese-language United Daily News that the highway authority had decided to postpone the inauguration of the highway from last Friday to June 16 to accommodate the tour schedule of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
The report said that the president would be one of the distinguished guests appearing at the inauguration ceremony.
"The delay has nothing to with the president's travel schedule," James Chen said.
Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) yesterday also dismissed the allegation that the inauguration had been postponed to accommodate the president's schedule.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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