A ground-breaking ceremony for a project to improve the Suhua Highway was held yesterday, in what the government said was a fulfillment of its promise to give residents of eastern Taiwan “a safe road home.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said at the ceremony that through the project, his administration would carry out social justice at minimal cost to the environment.
Ma said he hoped the upgrade of the Suhua Highway would provide residents of eastern Taiwan with “a safe and convenient road home,” as enjoyed by residents of western Taiwan for the last two to three decades.
He also expressed the hope that the project would help improve tourism in the area and thus spur an economic boom.
The construction of a 1,834m bridge over the Heping River (和平溪) along the border of Yilan and Hualian counties will be the first stage of the overall improvement project and is expected to be completed in May 2014, according to the Directorate General of Highways (DGH).
In addition to the bridge, which has been listed as the priority on the project, two road sections that extend from Su-ao (蘇澳) to Dongao (東澳) and from Hejhong (和中) to Dacingshuei (大清水) will bring the total length of the highway work to 38.4km.
The full project is estimated at NT$46.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, according to the DGH.
The upgrade of the Suhua Highway gained urgency after torrential rains from Typhoon Megi in October last year triggered lethal landslides, killing 26 people.
The highway, perched above the Pacific Ocean, links the counties of Yilan and Hualien and is part of Provincial Highway No. 9, which stretches from Taipei City in the north to the southernmost county of Pingtung.
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