Taipei City Government announced on Wednesday it will begin work to remove the Gongguan roundabout and an underpass for buses at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Keelung Road on Sept. 13.
The city said at a press conference that it will first fill in the bus underpass before removing the roundabout, with the project expected to be completed by late November.
The decision to begin work without prior notice following an earlier pause in the project has drawn criticism from city council members and the Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance road safety group, which said the government is “disrespecting public opinion” and “acting hastily.”
Photo: CNA
Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) first approved the plan to replace the roundabout with a four- way intersection with traffic lights on March 25, with plans to start by June 28.
However, amid widespread criticism, the Taipei City Council’s Transportation Committee postponed the project on June 16.
Speaking to reporters at Taipei City Council Wednesday afternoon, Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) of the Social Democratic Party said the decision was “unscientific” as the removal would force buses to share road space with cars and motorcycles.
The city also went against a cross-party consensus to pause the project until further agreements have been reached with locals, she said.
She cited an evaluation made in October 2024 of the project’s potential impact, which predicted traffic would worsen, while 163-180 seconds would be added to the travel time for more than 300 bus services using the underpass during rush hour.
Miao said she proposed a trial adjustment of road markings and signals at a meeting held by the city government in July, yet the government only said it would “discuss the suggestions.”
Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance also said on Wednesday that it made multiple suggestions as did other road safety advocacy groups to improve the roundabout’s markings, yet the city simply dismissed them as “useless” at the Wednesday press conference.
Currently, no markings tell drivers which lane to take upon approaching the roundabout, and only when they reach their exit do they realize they are in the wrong lane, leaving them no choice but to cut across lanes to exit, the group said.
While an intersection with traffic lights will provide space for pedestrians, the group argued that the roundabout could still be improved, and that the government should first experiment with cheaper solutions like road markings instead of moving straight to removal.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS