The National Freeway Bureau plans to raise the speed limit on National Freeway No. 2 and No. 4 from 90kph to 100kph, the bureau said yesterday, adding that the new regulation could take effect in June.
The speed limit on national freeways ranges from 80kph to 110kph. Drivers must be aware of the speed limit on each section of the freeway, the bureau said.
Drivers on Freeway No. 1, for example, must follow a speed limit of 100kph from Keelung to the Taian Service Area (泰安服務區) in Greater Taichung. After driving past the service area, they can travel at 110kph until they reach Nanzih (楠梓) Interchange in Greater Kaohsiung, where they have to lower their speed to 100kph.
With the exception of Freeway No. 6, where the speed limit is 90kph throughout the entire route, drivers must observe speed limit changes on freeways. On some freeways, the difference between speed limits could be 20kph.
“The speed limit varies because of several reasons, including geographical factors and the speed the freeway is designed to handle,” said Kang Jyh-fu (康志福), chief of the bureau’s traffic management division. “It is impossible to set an identical speed for all freeways.”
National Freeway Bureau Deputy Director-General Lien Shyi--ching (連錫卿) said it had increased the number of lanes near the Airport System Interchange on Freeway No. 2 and built new exits to Danan (大湳) in Taoyuan and to Yingge District (鶯歌) in New Taipei City (新北市).
“Drivers on sections east of the Airport System Interchange can drive at 100kph, but those driving west on the same interchange must reduce their speed to 90kph,” Lien said. “After the freeway improvement project is complete in May, the speed limit will be 100kph on both sides of the freeway.”
Lien said the same improvement project also includes Freeway No. 4, where work is also scheduled to be completed in May. The project would enable the speed limit to be raised from 90kph to 100kph, he said.
The bureau needs to submit the changes to the freeway speed limits to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for approval, Lien said.
The new regulations could take effect in June, if everything goes as planned, he said.
Meanwhile, the bureau announced that shoulders along several sections of Freeway No. 3 are to be opened to traffic this weekend and on Wednesday next week to help ease congestion during the Tomb Sweeping Festival.
The holiday this year falls on Aptil 4, but many families might choose to clean up graveyards early to avoid the heavy traffic, Kang said.
The bureau estimated that traffic would be at its heaviest on Saturday morning and on Wednesday morning next week.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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