Traffic along the western terminus of Zhongxiao W Road is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning thanks to the unexpectedly quick demolition of the overpass to Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋), Taipei City Government officials said yesterday.
The 750m overpass was located near Taipei’s North Gate (北門) and stretched from Zhongxiao W Road near Taipei Railway Station to Zhongxiao Bridge, connecting downtown Taipei to New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重).
Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) was joined by several city department commissioners for a ceremony to mark the removal of the protective barrier which had been built around the North Gate to protect it during the demolition process, which began on Sunday to take advantage of the city’s lower commuter traffic during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Lin said the demolition project was 90 percent completed and was well ahead of schedule, adding that traffic would fully resume by 8am tomorrow.
Following the demolition of the overpass, cars that used to cross the bridge are to pass through three traffic lights on Zhongxiao W Road, adding three to five minutes to their commute, Lin said, adding that construction work to expand sidewalks and build a plaza around the North Gate is to continue until the end of November.
The construction project would help the area to once again serve as a gateway to the city, particularly after the nearby terminus station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT line opens later this year, he said.
The gate, designated as a national historic building, was built in 1882 and is the only one of the city’s five gates that has retained its original look.
Taipei Department of Transportation Commissioner Chung Hui-yu (鍾慧諭) said that people returning to work next week would likely take a few days to get used to the overpass’ demolition, urging commuters to switch to public transportation.
Although there would now be one less lane along Zhongxiao W Road’s western terminus, the road itself would not be closed and monitoring equipment on Zhongxiao, Taipei and Zhongxing (中興橋) bridges would be used to help police officers direct traffic, she said, adding that the frequency of city buses to MRT stations would be increased to help more residents ride the MRT lines connecting Taipei and New Taipei City.
“Traffic can be controlled as long as 20 percent of people change their commute habits,” she said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS