Motorists returning home for Chinese New Year can use alternative routes to avoid traffic jams along the nation's highways, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
The alternative routes will be marked with national flags and lead back to major highways, ministry officials said.
For example, the ministry has suggested that motorists use the Northern Second Freeway and the Western Coastal Expressway to avoid traffic on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway.
"Aside from putting up instructional signs, we will also be putting up national flags at intersections where drivers are prone to be confused," said Lin Lin-san (林陵三), minister of transportation and communications. "Just follow the national flags and drivers can return to the [highways] they are looking for."
Lin said the idea to use national flags as guideposts was a good one. "After the Chinese New Year holidays are over, we can recycle these national flags and use them for different occasions," Lin said.
Ministry officials yesterday also promised that travel this Chinese New Year would be smoother than last year. They said measures would be taken to control traffic near freeway exits to avoid heavy traffic jams of the past.
The ministry also plans to suspend freeway tolls and open up road shoulders to motorists in an effort to relieve congestion.
"With the transportation plan we have mapped out, we're confident that we can reduce the driving time between Taipei and Kaohsiung to six hours," said Tsai Duei (蔡堆), the ministry's administrative vice minister.
In the past, travel over Chinese New Year has been regarded by motorists as a nightmare due to heavy traffic jams.
Tsai said the ministry has printed 1 million free maps that outline the alternative routes and other traffic-easing measures for the holidays.
"People can get these free copies from highway toll booths and information desks nationwide, as well as from gas stations near freeway exits," Tsai said.
Lin said travelers making short trips should avoid the major highways, leaving them to long-haul motorists.
"We want to encourage holiday drivers to try to stay off of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway to make way for people making long-distance trips from northern Taiwan to southern Taiwan," Lin said.
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