The Taipei City Government yesterday said it would begin removing the Gongguan roundabout and filling in the bus underpass on Saturday as scheduled, despite protests by civic groups and city councilors.
The project is expected to be completed in late November, replacing the roundabout at Roosevelt Road and Keelung Road and its three lanes with a standard four-way junction controlled by traffic lights, the Taipei Department of Transportation said.
However, civic groups and road safety activists, who plan to stage protests on Friday, have argued that the roundabout should remain and instead be upgraded with clearer markings and signage.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) has also questioned the city’s evaluation methods, saying that closing the underpass would worsen traffic congestion in the area.
Department Commissioner Hsieh Ming-hong (謝銘鴻) said that safety is a priority.
The redesign is based on more than two decades of studies and has been endorsed by academics and road safety experts as the best solution, Hsieh said.
The roundabout, built in 1967, has been the top site for traffic accidents in the city for the past seven consecutive years, Hsieh said.
He said that filling in the underpass is necessary to resolve structural load issues, and while traffic would be congested for about two months, alternative routes and real-time traffic monitoring would be established.
The plan is to start with sealing and filling in the underpass over a 44-day period, followed by the demolition of the roundabout in 21 days, he said.
According to the department, the redesign would shorten the pedestrian crossings by 23 percent, expand walking space and give buses more space at the intersection.
While some people have expressed concern that merging the bus lanes with regular traffic could worsen congestion, simulations indicate that about 60 percent of buses would be able to navigate the intersection when they have the green light, the department said.
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