The Taipei High Administrative Court’s decision to nullify an environmental impact assessment (EIA) committee’s approval of the proposed Tamsui-Taipei expressway project on Wednesday has drawn different reactions from the Taipei City and New Taipei City (新北市) governments, with the former saying it respects the court’s decision and the latter vowing to continue the construction.
“Because the EIA approval is still valid at this point and construction has already begun, the project will continue,” New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday, adding that the city would seek to balance the public’s reaction and the need to preserve the environment, as well as ask the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to continue with an appeal of the case.
Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), on the other hand, said the city respects the court’s decision.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
“We will need to communicate with the residents about the budget of the project as well as other relevant issues,” he added. “The project will continue only if we secure the approval of local residents.”
The proposed expressway is about 4.7km long and is to connect Highway No. 2 in New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and the intersection of Dadu Road (大度路) and Zhongyang N Road (中央北路) in Taipei City. The project was estimated to cost NT$4.6 billion.
While some people argued that the new expressway would ease traffic congestion on Highway No. 2, some local residents do not see the project as an effective solution to the problem.
“Tamsui does not need this kind of construction, which would benefit mostly real-estate developers,” resident Chang Chien (張簡) said.
Another Tamsui resident surnamed Hsu (許) said the biggest problem causing constant traffic congestion on Highway No. 2 was perpetual government constructions on the highway.
“Although that main road has three lanes, often only one or two lanes are available,” she said.
Hsu also questioned the necessity of building the expressway, given that the government has already approved the construction of a light-rail transport system and has been encouraging people to use public transportation more often.
Construction of the Tamsui-Taipei expressway was first proposed by the Directorate-General of Highways in 1996. It was turned down by the EIA committee in 2000, but the proposal was again tabled by New Taipei City in 2008 and was conditionally approved by the EIA committee.
Environmentalists who oppose the construction filed an administrative lawsuit in April seeking to nullify the EIA committee’s approval.
According to the verdict on Wednesday, the EIA committee approved the project based on insufficient information and the conditions it set also failed to consider if New Taipei City has the ability to meet those conditions.
The committee also failed to ascertain if the construction would damage the Mangrove Forest Conservation Area, nor did the committee provide specific requirements on the types of hedges to be constructed to serve as a buffer between the construction and the conservation area, the verdict said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS