Access between Kaohsiung and Taitung via the Southern Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway No. 20) would be restored by the end of this month, Directorate-General of Highways Director Chen Wen-jui (陳文瑞) said yesterday.
About 140km of the highway was severely damaged by Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
“We are glad to announce that after 13 years of repairs, the section of highway from Baolai (寶來) to Tianchi (天池), both in Kaohsiung, has been reopened to the public,” Chen said.
Photo courtesy of Directorate-General of Highways and Hung Chun-ching
The last section of the highway to be opened is the section between the Tianchi Tunnel and Siangyang Road (向陽), which was deemed safe enough to drive on starting this month, he said.
However, the section of highway between the entrance to Meishan (梅山) and Tianchi, as well as the section between Tianchi and Siangyang Road would only be conditionally opened to the public.
The section between Meishan and Siangyang Road would be open to traffic from 7am to 2pm, and vehicles may only exit the section after 2pm, the Directorate-General of Highways said.
From 3pm, vehicles must vacate the restricted section between Meishan to Siangyang Road, with no vehicles allowed after 5pm.
Vehicles would also be banned from entering the section on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the agency said.
To ensure safety along the highway, the agency would place checkpoints and plate readers along the road, allowing the agency to know what vehicles are at which section, Chen said.
The system would also allow the agency to notify travelers before they enter the highway whether they can expect heavy traffic or traffic jams, he added.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS