The Taroko National Park Headquarters on Tuesday said it hopes to reopen some of the park’s safer trails and scenic spots to the public by the end of year, following damage from the April 3 earthquake.
The park in Hualien County has been closed to the public since a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck just off the coast two months ago.
Reconstruction has been ongoing, with reopening to be conducted in phases, the headquarters said.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
Contractors have been commissioned to design repairs of areas that were only lightly damaged and pose fewer safety risks, with construction contracts to be awarded next month, it said.
The spots that are to open earlier are Taroko Terrace (太魯閣台地), the northern section of Taroko Terrace Trail, Changchun Shrine (長春祠), Buluowan (布洛灣) lower terrace, Buluowan suspension bridge, Tunnel of Nine Turns Trail (九曲洞步道), Tianxiang (天祥), and the Chongde Trail (崇德步道) and Huide Trail (匯德步道) along the Suhua Highway, it said.
If plans proceed smoothly, portions could reopen by the end of the year, the headquarters said.
However, the upcoming typhoon season and continuing aftershocks could hinder repair efforts, it added.
More time would be needed for more severely damaged trails and scenic spots, including Swallow Grotto Trail (燕子口步道), Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道), Lushui Trail (綠水步道) and Zhuilu Old Road (錐麓古道), it said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to