The Gongguan Traffic Circle in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正), considered to be the city's most hazardous intersection, is to be demolished, and the underpass filled in, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said today in a Facebook post.
The Taipei City Government plans to convert the roundabout into a traditional intersection, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said today in a separate Facebook post.
The traffic circle connecting Keelung Road and Roosevelt Road has been the city’s most dangerous intersection for seven consecutive years and is a hotspot for road traffic accidents, Chiang said.
Photo courtesy of Chiang Wan-an's Facebook page
The intersection’s design means there are often car and motorcycle accidents and it is a high-risk crossing for pedestrians, he added.
The roundabout is at the intersection of seven roads, with an overpass above and an underpass below, Lee said.
Taipei’s Department of Transportation and other relevant agencies conducted several months of research to determine the best course of action, Chiang said.
The original plan was to retain the underpass as a dedicated bus lane, but due to ventilation shafts, water pumps and large underground pipelines that cannot be moved, it was decided that the underpass must be filled in, and bus lanes moved to the surface, he added.
The project would be a challenging engineering feat, made more difficult as Keelung Road and Roosevelt Road are important throughways for commuters with heavy traffic, he said.
The Department of Transportation and the Public Works Department have been instructed to plan the renovation carefully to minimize disruption to local residents and road users, he added.
The Taipei City Council has repeatedly asked for the intersection to be improved to reduce traffic incidents, but plans have been delayed until now due to logistical difficulties, Lee added.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
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