A controversial plan to upgrade the Suao-Hualien Highway in northeastern Taiwan moved closer to realization following conditional approval Nov. 1 of an environmental impact assessment by the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration.
The EPA said many aspects of the assessment, which was resubmitted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications after being rejected Oct. 18, met basic requirements but further improvements would be necessary before final approval could be given.
According to sources familiar with the matter, these include designing a system to monitor air and ecological conditions during and after construction, and submitting more detailed information on the types of vehicles permitted to use the improved highway section.
MOTC Minister Mao Chi-kuo said once final approval is given for the NT$46.58 billion (US$1.53 billion) project, work could get underway by the end of this year.
The plan encompasses 38.4 kilometers of roadway and involves replacing dangerous sections with tunnels and bridges. Upon completion in 2017, motorists will be able to cut close to 50 minutes off travel time between Suao Township in Yilan County and Chongde Township in Hualien County, the MOTC said.
Prior to the EPA announcing its decision, Hualien County Magistrate Fu Kun-chi met with ROC Premier Wu Den-yih who promised that the government would begin upgrading the highway immediately after the environmental assessment is passed.
“But in the meantime, the government will make the current roadway safer and more convenient by strengthening lighting inside tunnels, establishing landslide monitoring systems and widening the road in certain sections,” Wu said.
Fu has been an outspoken critic of the government’s failure to give local residents a “safe road home.” He said that recent landslides triggered by Typhoon Megi once again confirmed how hazardous the 78-year-old road has become.
