The government hopes to begin construction on an alternative route connecting Yilan and Hualien counties by the end of this year, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.
During a question-and-answer session with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福) on the legislative floor, Wu said the government would refer an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the alternative to the Suhua Highway to the Environmental Protection Administration for review in September.
Wu said the government would like to ensure residents on the east coast have a safe road to travel home, but the government would also protect the environment.
The Executive Yuan has proposed a NT$1.8 billion (US$56.1 million) plan to renovate the current Suhua Highway and another NT$40 billion construction project for the alternative route, Wu said.
The Suhua Highway is the only highway connecting Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County, and Hualien, but the road is often blocked by landslides during typhoons.
Construction of the alternative route has been controversial since it was first proposed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in July 2008.
The construction plan was proposed after the EPA’s EIA committee rejected the government’s plan to build a freeway connecting Suao and Hualien in April the same year, citing concerns about the road’s environmental impact.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chih-kuo (毛治國) said the alternative route was different from the proposed freeway, but added that a “freeway-grade” route would be built on dangerous sections of the existing Suhua Highway.
The premier told Yang yesterday that in January the EPA invited members of the EIA committee and environmental activists to talk about the government’s forthcoming environmental impact assessment of the alternative road.
Yang, an Aboriginal lawmaker, urged the Executive Yuan not to allow EIA procedures to stall the progress of the construction.
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