The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday denied that it rejected a plan to build an expressway connecting Hualien and Taitung counties, adding that the project is in the feasibility assessment phase.
“We have completed a preliminary review of the project, and the Highway Bureau has been asked to provide more details. The assessment would focus on the feasibility of constructing the expressway in sections,” Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) told reporters at a news conference in Taipei.
In previous assessments, the cost-benefit of building the expressway was smaller than 1, Chen said, adding that it agreed to reconsider the project after improvements to the transportation infrastructure on the east coast.
Photo: CNA
“The bureau should assess how the expressway would change Hualien and Taitung counties and the tourism industry there. It should also include in its assessment the size and costs of the construction and how it would connect other corridors on the east coast,” he said.
Highway Bureau Director-General Chen Wen-juei (陳文瑞) said that the agency began reassessing the feasibility of building the expressway following a motion passed at the legislature in 2019.
The area assessed by the bureau stretches 174km from Hualien County’s Chungde Village (崇德) south to Taitung City.
Experts were invited to review the project, from the handling of earthworks, funding and economic benefits that the project could generate to its potential effects on the environment and landscape, Chen Wen-juei said.
The bureau last year began hosting information sessions in areas that could be affected by the project, he said.
Based on the Highway Bureau’s plan, the 3km section from Chungde to Hualien County’s Hsincheng Township (新城) could be constructed first, at an estimated cost of about NT$9 billion (US$273.39 million). It could serve as an extension of a section of the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project.
Construction costs of the about 27km section from Hsincheng to Jian Township (吉安) are estimated at NT$90 billion.
The total cost of the highway could reach NT$361.4 billion.
In the past eight years, the ministry has spent NT$326.4 billion on transportation infrastructure projects on the east coast, including NT$104.7 billion on railway projects and NT$221.7 billion on highway projects, ministry data showed.
Of the highway projects, the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project is to cost NT$105.6 billion.
Separately, the Railway Bureau said that it did not reject a plan for the construction of a Keelung MRT system, adding that it is reviewing the project.
The New Taipei City Government, which is in charge of building and operating the system, first submitted the construction plan on Dec. 16 last year, with the construction cost reaching NT$126.154 billion, Railway Bureau Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) told reporters.
However, the city’s estimated cost had exceeded the approved funding cap of NT$69.589 billion, Yang said.
Following the bureau’s review in January, the city government submitted a revised construction plan on Feb. 12, which the bureau is reviewing, he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS