A total of 35 major roads will be turned into “green boulevards” in the next four years, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday, describing plans to turn Taipei into a “garden city” with more than 4,500 trees along its roads.
The Taipei City Government will prioritize planting 1,256 trees along 10 roads that are currently without trees, including Tiding Boulevard, part of Xinglong Road, Zhongshe Road and Beian Road, by the end of this year, according to the Parks and Street Lights Office.
For the 25 roads and boulevards that already have trees, such as Renai, Xinyi and Dunhua, the city will either replace old trees with new ones or keep the trees well maintained.
“Following the Taipei International Flora Expo, a growing number of Taipei residents expect Taipei to be more beautiful and so we will make Taipei a garden city through our green boulevard project,” Hau told a press conference at Taipei City Hall.
Parks and Street Lights Office director Chen Jia-chin (陳嘉欽) said the city will budget NT$70 million (US$2.4 million) and plant 4,641 trees along the 35 roads by 2014, increasing the total number of roadside trees to 92,912.
On Xinyi Road, for example, 1,988 trees will be planted after construction of the MRT Xinyi Line is completed next year. Chen said the city has also decided not to remove 286 banyan and autumn maple trees that were to be uprooted to make way for the construction.
Chen said the city would select trees that are grown in Taiwan and have strong roots, or non-deciduous trees, so that they would suffer less damage during typhoon season.
The city will also plant Taiwan cherry blossom trees and Crape myrtle trees as part of its efforts to add colors to the city’s scenery.
Increasing the number of trees in the city was one of Hau’s campaign promises when he ran for re-election last year.
The city government has formed a task force to implement the project. Horticultural and botany experts would be asked to help select the appropriate trees, Hau said.
In need of green
Ten major roads:
Tiding Boulevard (堤頂大道)
Xinglong Road, Sections 1 and 2 (興隆路一、二段)
Zhongshe Road (中社路)
Roosevelt Road, Sections 5 and 6 (羅斯福路五、六段)
Xinhai Road (辛亥路)
Xinyi Road (信義路)
Nanjing E and W Roads (南京東西路)
Jianguo N and S Roads (建國南北路)
Xinsheng N and S Roads (新生南北路)
Beian Road, Alley No. 501 (北安路501巷)
Twenty-five other roads or public areas:
Bei-an Road (北安路)
Academia Road, Sections 1 and 2 (考試院路一、二段)
Area surrounding Nangang Exhibition Center
Zhi Shan Road, Section 3 (至善路三段)
Renai Road (仁愛路)
Zhongshan S Road (中山南路)
Civic Boulevard, Section 5 (市民大道五段)
Zhonghua Road (中華路)
Aiguo W Road (愛國西路)
Area surrounding Taipei Railway Station
Area surrounding Taipei International Airport
Area surrounding Taipei City Hall Plaza
Area surrounding Dunhua Park
Minquan E Road (民權東路)
Xinzhong Road (行中路)
Minquan W Road (民權西路)
Chengde Road (承德路)
Chongching N Road (重慶北路)
Gugong Road (故宮路)
Dunhua N and S Roads (敦化南北路)
Minsheng E and W Roads (民生東西路)
Zhongxiao E Road (忠孝東路)
Hoping E and W Roads (和平東西路)
Keelung Road (基隆路)
Huanghe N and S Roads (環河南北路)
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS