A lack of infrastructure might mean that the Executive Yuan’s “S corridor” policy to promote semiconductor manufacturing in southern Taiwan could overload traffic in the area, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said on Saturday.
The policy would link the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan, and the Renwu Industrial Park (仁武產業園區), the Ciaotou Science and Technology Park (橋頭科學園區) and the Nanzih Technology Industrial Park (楠梓科技產業園區) in Kaohsiung — the four parks somewhat form an S shape on a map — with the goal to boost development of the nation’s semiconductor industry.
However, acceleration of the plan to further industrialize Kaohsiung’s Ciaotou District (橋頭) — from six years to three — has prompted concern over transportation infrastructure.
Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei Times
A project to extend Provincial Highway No. 39 20.8km southward to Kaohsiung’s Renwu District (仁武) is expected to cost NT$21.9 billion (US$716.11 million) and be completed by 2031.
However, the road project is expected to reach the Ministry of Transportation and Communications next month at the earliest, while the Renwu and Ciaotou parks have completion dates of 2024, so the highway extension is far behind schedule, Chiu said.
The gap between completion of the parks and the road would mean that transportation in Kaohsiung, especially the coastal area in northern Kaohsiung, would be overly reliant on Provincial Highway No. 17, he said.
“That would be insufficient to handle the expected volume of traffic accessing the parks, with the overflow affecting denser urban areas,” he said.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the Kaohsiung City Government has already submitted plans — which have been approved by the Executive Yuan — to build a “new Provincial Highway No. 17.”
The plan is to build 7km of new road between Dianchang Road in Ciaotou and the Nanmen roundabout in Zuoying District (左營), Chen said.
The project would divert about 50 percent of the traffic on the extant No. 17 highway and cut the travel distance between Ciaotou and Zuoying by at least 2.6km, he said.
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