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.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
RSS