The National Freeway Bureau yesterday said that it would conditionally allow large passenger vehicles to drive on the shoulder of Chian Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5) in two trial runs that are scheduled to take place on Dec. 20 and Dec. 27.
Bureau Deputy Director Wu Mu-fu (吳木富) said the trial is to take place on the northbound section between Yilan and Toucheng (頭城), where the shoulder would be accessible to large passenger vehicles if there is congestion from the Hsuehshan Tunnel to the exit of the Toucheng Interchange.
To reduce the effects that large vehicles might have on the flow of traffic when they merge from the shoulder to the road, the bureau has installed traffic lights at the exit of the Toucheng Exchange, Wu said.
The time spent driving from Yilan to Toucheng is expected to be reduced from 20 minutes to 8 minutes, due to the change in regulations, he said.
This would be the first time that the bureau has opened the shoulder for large passenger vehicles, Wu added.
He said that the change is to create an environment where large passenger vehicles have priority and the purpose is to encourage more people to use public transportation.
“We already have large bus lanes on the feeder roads to the freeway,” Wu said, adding: “For the new practice, we have expanded the width of the shoulder to 3.5m and changed traffic signs.”
The bureau said that drivers of large passenger vehicles must observe the speed limit of 60kph.
The bureau added that drivers of large passenger vehicles can only drive on the shoulder after they see a sign allowing them to do so, which is set up at the 35.3km landmark on the freeway. It said that another sign would be set up at the 32.7km landmark, signaling that the shoulder is open for small and large passenger vehicles.
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