With road expansion related to the construction of Taipei Dome complex under way, Taipei residents say work on a sidewalk near Guangfu S Road is seriously threatening their safety, while stores close to the construction site say business has dropped significantly since the project began last month.
The road expansion has seen Farglory Land Development Co. (遠雄建設) fence off an area on the sidewalk more than 100m long, leaving a narrow 2m-wide strip for pedestrians and cyclists to use.
Couples pushing babies in strollers and people in wheelchairs were sharing the passageway with people on YouBikes yesterday, while a cross-country cycling team also went dashing through.
Photo: Sean Lin, Taipei Times
Residents living nearby said the situation has continued for almost three weeks.
Pedestrians questioned by reporters said the project has caused them great inconvenience.
“It is really quite inconvenient for road users. I wonder why the Taipei Dome project has occupied the sidewalk to such an extent. This is over the top,” a passer-by surnamed Chien (簡) said.
“It is really dangerous, just terrifying,” another pedestrian surnamed Hsieh (謝) said, referring to a hoist operating behind a fence near the sidewalk.
Store owners near the fenced-off area of the project are also up in arms.
A woman surnamed Lee (李), who owns an ice-cream parlor, said fewer people have visited her shop since the road expansion began, as many people now avoid the area by taking detours, while another woman surnamed Chiu (邱), who runs a collectors’ store, said her shop has seen a sharp decrease in the number of customers.
Meanwhile, Songshan Tree Protection Volunteer Union member Kuo Tai-yan (郭台晏) accused Farglory of intruding on the sidewalk by setting up fences around several trees it plans to relocate.
She said that the corporation provided a document signed by former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and then cordoned off the trees, even though Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has said that the relocation of trees should not begin before Farglory works out a consensus with the union.
Farglory spokesperson Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) said the expansion forms part of the Taipei Dome project, adding that the Taipei City Government approved the company’s application to carry out the work.
He said that the current level of construction is only the beginning of what is required by the dome project because the entire sidewalk is set to be demolished to make way for two additional lanes on Guangfu S Road, while a new sidewalk closer to the complex has been planned.
The tree protection volunteers at the site are the ones who are illegally occupying the sidewalk by setting up booths, he said, adding that the fences will remain until the day the union removes its booths from the sidewalk.
An official at the Construction Planning Office, who asked to remain anonymous, said there is nothing the agency can do to resolve the standoff between the two parties, as all of the aforementioned actions by Farglory are legal.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS