Residents affected by a proposed expropriation plan for Hsinchu’s R1 Boulevard project and their supporters yesterday cautiously welcomed the government’s decision to postpone the project.
Newly sworn-in Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) announced on Tuesday that the project would undergo an indefinite hiatus, following months of demonstrations and protests against the proposed road and related land seizures.
The decision marked a victory for the Anti-R1 Action League, which has long questioned the road’s necessity and accused authorities of catering to the interests of developers while infringing on the rights of local farmers and residents.
The elevated expressway was first proposed in 2010 by Lin’s predecessor — former mayor Hsu Ming-tsai (許明財) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — who said that the road would alleviate traffic congestion by cutting through hilly terrain in the city’s Siangshan District (香山).
Lin said that the R1 Boulevard project is to undergo an indefinite hiatus because of “a lack of immediate necessity,” adding that he acknowledges the wave of opposition directed at the project from many citizens and young people.
Given that the project would cost a hefty NT$4.3 billion (US$135.1 million) to build, including NT$1.78 billion from the local municipal budget, funds from the controversial project could be used to improve existing infrastructure and public transportation systems in the area, Lin said.
Lin added that he had visited two households affected by the expropriation plans to understand their concerns.
The Anti-R1 Action league said in a statement that they welcomed the “shift in atmosphere” that followed the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections, adding that a recent evaluation conducted by a government research team confirmed their own observations about the project.
However, league members said they were worried that the project could “come back to life” in the future, as it was postponed indefinitely, but not terminated.
Siangshan resident Chen Wen-hsien (陳文賢), a farmer in his 60s whose family has relocated eight times as a result of frequent expropriation projects in the area, said he is still worried that Lin might yield to pressure from business conglomerates or local politicians.
Anti-R1 Action League member Wang Shao-fan (汪少凡), a student at Hsinchu’s National Tsing Hua University, said that the group would turn their efforts to fostering community organizations in the area to ensure that voices against the project would be maintained in the long term.
“We see this as a temporary victory, but we still need to be wary of forces that might want to push the project through again,” Wang said.
Additional reporting by Hong Mei-hsiu
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