Work on a Suhua Highway improvement project should not be rushed because of pressure from public opinion, a group of academics said yesterday.
The warning came after angry residents of Hualien County threatened to stage a rally in Taipei on Monday and the Hualien County Council went into indefinite recess in protest over the central government’s long delay to improve the road linking Yilan and Hualien counties.
A serious landslide on the road on Oct. 21 claimed 15 lives and 23 people remained missing as of yesterday.
Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), a professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Civil Engineering, said policymakers should not react emotionally simply because of pressure from the public.
“We should pay closer attention to the details of the Suhua Highway improvement project instead of pressuring the government to hasten the start of construction,” Lee said.
His words were echoed by Hongey Chen (陳宏宇), a professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Geosciences.
Chen said the government should spend more time investigating the unique geological structure of the region and the environmental impact of the project before construction takes place.
“If we do not take variables such as fault lines and groundwater into consideration, building tunnels on the Suhua Highway in haste could do more harm to the area,” he said.
The Suhua improvement project calls for tunnels to be built to avoid some of the worst sections of the road.
An environmental impact assessment for the project remains under evaluation by a review committee, which is the last hurdle before contractors can begin bidding for the project.
During the intervening period, Chen said, the government should clearly identify the most unstable sections of the highway, adding that the government should also examine its ability to manage the highway after the reconstruction.
Lee said that without careful planning, traffic accidents could be even worse if they occur inside the proposed tunnels.
Other academics emphasized the importance of seeking long-term solutions for the public, who have to learn how to live with extreme weather and natural disasters.
Liu Shaw-chen (劉紹臣), director of Academia Sinica’s Research Center for Environment Changes, said the public could take advantage of alternative methods of transportation.
“If we can upgrade the current railway system and even the ferry services, I believe there will be more possibilities for taking care of the Suhua Highway problem,” he said.
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