A citizens’ participatory panel for Taipei and New Taipei City residents is to pick a route adjustment proposal in response to the repurposing of Zhongzheng Bridge (中正橋) as a heritage site, Taipei Public Works Department Director Peng Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) said.
The Taipei Public Works Department previously planned to demolish the 80-year-old Zhongzheng Bridge because its design does not meet modern standards for earthquake resistance, and the bridge’s deck is too low to be safe during floods, Peng said.
However, the department scrapped those plans when engineers discovered that the original Japanese-colonial era structure was still intact beneath the deck, and last year decided to preserve the bridge as a cultural heritage site and build a new bridge beside it, Peng said.
The Taipei and New Taipei City governments have prepared two proposals for the panel’s consideration, Peng said.
The first proposal is to demolish the Sindian River (新店溪) embankment access ramps and Zhongzheng Bridge’s piers — which are not part of the original structure.
That proposal would entail building a new bridge with dedicated lanes for car and motorcycle traffic that could be used during floods and typhoons, but the cost of construction would be high, Peng said.
The alternative is preserve the later additions to the Zhongzheng Bridge’s original structure, and to convert the access ramps into lanes dedicated to motorcycle traffic, while restricting Huanhe Expressway to other kinds of traffic.
The drawback of this cost-saving option is that the motorcycle lanes would need to be closed during floods and typhoons, Peng said.
Work on the project is to begin at the end of the year, with construction costs divided between the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, Peng said.
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