A project to improve and extend Provincial Highways No. 61 and 62 would cost NT$304.5 billion (US$9.69 billion) and be completed by 2044, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
Construction for Provincial Highway No. 61, known as the West Coast Expressway, would connect the only break in the entire stretch of the expressway between Fongbi Township (鳳鼻) and Siangshan Township (香山) in Hsinchu County, it said.
Efforts to extend the West Coast Expressway southward and connect it to Kaohsiung are being discussed, and would add another 48km to the 302km expressway if approved, the ministry said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The extension would connect to multiple ports and industrial areas, providing faster, safer transit across the west coast and helping develop local tourism, the ministry added.
Funding for all projects on the West Coast Expressway would total NT$120 billion, and is expected to be completed by 2044, it said.
Provincial Highway No. 62, commonly referred to as the Wanruei Expressway, is to be expanded to help relieve traffic on Provincial Highway No. 2, which experiences severe congestion during weekends, the ministry said.
The Executive Yuan has approved its plan to extend the highway to New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里), the ministry added.
The ministry is also conducting an environmental assessment of a proposal to extend the expressway from New Taipei City’s Rueibin (瑞濱), the current terminal point, to Yilan County’s Toucheng Township (頭城).
The plan aims to resolve the difficulty of transportation between Taipei and Yilan, it said.
Difficulties facing the project include the exact routes, as it is expected to stretch 45km and would require creating eight tunnels through the Hsuehshan (雪山) mountain range to reach Toucheng, the ministry said.
The ministry said it hoped to refine its plans and reach a consensus with local communities to expedite the plans.
The extension of the highway to Wanli is expected to be completed by 2035, while plans to connect the highway to Yilan and to the Chiang Wei-shui Highway (蔣渭水高速公路), or Freeway No. 5, would cost NT$184.5 billion and be completed by 2043, it said.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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