A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilor yesterday accused the Taipei City Government of conducting shoddy road resurfacing work on Zhinan Road, which leads to the Maokong area of Wenshan District (文山), urging the city government to improve the quality of municipal construction work.
The resurfacing work was part of the city government’s “Smooth Road Project” (路平專案), which aims to improve poor road conditions in Taipei. The project’s contract states that contractors must scrape away the old road surface and fill it with at least 5cm of tar.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Alan Lee (李慶鋒) inspected the construction site on Section 3 of the road and said the new road tar was only 3cm thick.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
“Section 3 of Zhinan Road is the gateway to Maokong, and both local resident and visitors use the road. The road resurfacing project is a major municipal construction and the city government should have implemented the project with more diligence,” he said.
Chang Shu-cheng (張舒程), a local borough chief in the district, said the construction was completed on May 27, but the road had already become uneven and bumpy.
“We had expected the resurfacing work to provide a better quality road, as it was the route visitors must take to travel to Maokong, but it turns out the construction work has been a waste of time and money,” he said.
The project is a major policy of Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌). The city began the work on 36 major roads last year, including Zhongxiao E Road, and plans to complete resurfacing work on a total of 77 roads this year. The budget for the construction in Wenshan alone was about NT$12 million (US$370,000).
The contractor said the resurfacing work had been more difficult than expected because the road is on a hillside, and has promised to make improvements.
Taipei City’s New Construction Office said it would examine the work done on the road in November and would fine the contractor if it fails to meet the stated requirements.
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