On-going Projects

1. New Construction of Suau Service Area on Freeway No. 5
 (A) Background:
The site is located at the end of Freeway No. 5 and the beginning of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project. Considering the ever-growing popularity of tourism in the east coast and the future completion of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project, a service area is necessary. The Bureau has organized the Suau Service Area construction into three phases and is actively pursuing it. The first phase consists of facilities such as the connecting roads, waste-water processing facility, parking lot, and public washrooms, with completion aimed at the opening of the first section of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project. The second phase consists of the construction of the visitor center building and all the parking lots. The third phase consists of non-essential service facilities such as the gas station and corridor canopies.
 (B) Project Benefits
1. Providing road users a place to rest on a long trip to avoid fatigue.
2. Providing local residents a place for recreational activities or bicycle riding.
 (C) Project details: Construction of main buildings including the visitor center, washrooms on the two sides, gas station, and a waste-water processing plant.
 (D) Construction budget and schedule: Total budget at NT$825 million. Phase 1 Construction contract: NT$341.7 million; construction scheduled to take 240 calendar days. Phases 2 and 3 are currently in the tender process.
 (E) Current status: Phase 1 construction began on July 22, 2017 and is scheduled for completion on March 18, 2018.
2. Long-term improvement project of the Tianliao No. 3 viaduct and Zhongliao tunnel on Freeway No. 3 (Tender No. D11)
 (A) Background:
Multiple structural deformation damages have occurred at the A1 abutment of the Tianliao No. 3 viaduct and the northern entrance of the Zhongliao tunnel. Analysis of the data showed that the continual deformation damage is mainly due to the natural contractional deformation caused by the movement of active faults. Although short-term modifications can retain structural stability and traffic safety, the long-term accumulation of deformation will exceed the tolerance of the structure, leading to disastrous results. Evaluation revealed that to ensure traffic safety on the freeways, a long-term improvement project is necessary for this section.
 (B) Project benefits:
1. Replacing the rigid structures of bridges and tunnels with flexible structures such as embankments and cutting slopes, which can absorb and overcome the influence of the ground displacement and fault activities.
2. Reduction of the maintenance frequency of the maintenance and management units and improvement of road usage, thereby reducing unnecessary maintenance costs.
3. Prevention of road closure due to earthquakes and fault activities and reducing the risk of disasters such as bridge damage and the falling of tunnel lining.
 (C) Project details: The structures of Tianliao No. 3 viaduct and Zhongliao tunnel of the project have suffered structural deformation and damage due to the influence of the tectonic and fault activities—natural phenomenon which cannot be stopped. Thus, the project is to remove the existing Tianliao No. 3 viaduct and the northern section of the Zhongliao Tunnel and replace them with embankments and cutting slopes. This reduces the risks of ground displacement and active fault activities affecting the freeway structures and causing damage.
 (D) Construction budget and schedule: Total budget: NT$710 million; construction is scheduled to take 715 calendar days.
 (E) Current status: The construction began on March 15, 2017 and is scheduled for completion on February 27, 2019.
3. Freeway No. 4 Shenggang Interchange - Addition of the North Ramp and the Merging of Connecting Roads (Tender No. I14)
 (A) Background
1. The main east-west access road of Houli District in Taichung is the City Road No. 132 (Jiahou Rd.). It connects east to Freeway No. 1 and Provincial Highway 13, and west to Provincial Highway 1. The north-south access is through Freeway No. 1, in addition to Provincial Highway 13 to Sanyi in the north and Freeway No. 4 in the south. Since the roads concentrate on the east side of the district, traffic access is inconvenient to the Yuemei Village, Meishan Village, Taipin Village, Lianhe Village, and Jiushe Village; access to the Shengang District, especially, requires a detour. These inconveniences lead to a development imbalance between the east and west sides of Houli District.
2. Meanwhile, at the end of 2012, the Taichung City Government secured the right to host the 2018 Flower Expo, which is to be held from November of 2018 to April of 2019 in Houli District. Tourism development and economic benefits are expected to be enormous for Houli and its neighboring districts. The Expo is projected to attract between 8 and 10 million visitors, or approximately 100,000 people a day over the period, posing a great challenge to the local traffic capacity. In response, the Bureau planned the Freeway No. 4 Shengang Interchange - Addition of the North Ramp Project and obtained approval from the Ministry of Transportation and Communication.
 (B) Project benefits:
1. Alleviating the traffic burden on Freeway No. 1 and Provincial Highway 13: Traffic is often congested on Freeway No. 1 between Houli Interchange and Taichung System Interchange, and on Provincial Highway 13. The completion of the project will solve this problem.
2. Completing the service function of Shengang Interchange: Before the completion of the north side ramp and connecting roads of Shengang Interchange, vehicles on Freeway No. 4 could not enter Houli District directly. The completion of the project will provide direct access to Houli and Shengang districts from Freeway No. 4, providing effective connection for optimized regional traffic flow.
3. Driving local tourism and economic development: Houli District is known as the flower capital of the country and boasts a world-famous saxophone craft industry. The completion of the project can catalyze the development of the tourism industry in Houli and increase the willingness of companies to move into Phase 2 of the Shengang Fengzhou Technology and Industrial Park.
 (C) Project details: Since the Yueimei west connection road has yet to complete, only the southbound ramps are open on the Shengang Interchange which adopts a double clover leaf design. The current project will add a north ramp and connect all ramps to the connection points in the original design.
 (D) Construction budget and schedule: Total budget: NT$ 583 million; construction is scheduled to take 540 calendar days.
 (E) Current status: The construction began on March 2, 2016 and is scheduled for completion on August 23, 2018.
4. Addition of Yenpu Interchange on Freeway No. 3. (Tender No. D44)
 (A) Background
The transportation needs arising in the areas surrounding the intersection between Freeway No. 3 and Provincial Highway 27 mainly utilizes Provincial Highway 27 as the main access road to access Pingtung city center. Currently, mid-to-long distance travelers need to drive beneath the freeway viaduct and head south to Changzhi Interchange or north to Jiuju Interchange to access Freeway No. 3. The Haifeng Rd. section of Provincial Highway 27 has only one lane in either direction, and is lined densely with houses on either side, making it difficult to widen. The roads beneath the Freeway No. 3 viaduct only run until County Road 16 (Sanmin Rd.). To connect to Jiuju Interchange on Freeway No. 3 further requires taking the two-lane County Road16 to Provincial Highway 3 before feeding into the freeway.
 (B) Project benefits:
1. Diverting the traffic accessing Freeway No. 3 through Jiuju Interchange.
2. Relieving the traffic burden on the connecting roads (Provincial Highway 3) to Jiuju Interchange.
3. Strengthening the expressway network of the Pingtung area and improving traffic efficiency.
4. Integrating regional industry developments by boosting the transportation access to the corridor of technology industry to transform the region into a high-tech agricultural industry center.
 (C) Project details: The project adds a southbound off-ramp and northbound on-ramp between Jiuju Interchange (391k) and Changzhi Interchange (400k) on Freeway No. 3. The new ramps to be added are of the bridge type and use Provincial Highway 27 as the connecting road.
 (D) Construction budget and schedule: Total budget: NT$540 million; construction is scheduled to take 730 calendar days.
 (E) Current status: The construction began on October 17, 2016 and is scheduled for completion on October 16, 2018.
5. Freeway No. 1 Youshi Interchange Improvement Project (Tender No. 214)
 (A) Background
The Freeway No. 1 Youshi Interchange is a diamond interchange. Vehicles accessing the Freeway must go through a traffic signal on the connecting road (Chingnian Rd.) to be released and turn. The project is to be undertaken to effectively change the current situation of congestion at the Youshi Interchange, while returning the freeway to its intended transportation function. By changing the design of the interchange, the hope is to eliminate the traffic bottleneck connecting local roads and the Freeway.
 (B) Project benefits:
1. Adjusting the design of the interchange to a single-point interchange to streamline the traffic flow.
2. Adding left turn lane capacity to the connecting road feeding into the ramp, in conjunction with the widening of the Chingnian Rd. overpass, to further improve traffic efficiency.
 (C) Project details: The Youshi Interchange on Freeway No. 1 was originally a diamond interchange and is to be changed to a single-point interchange to streamline traffic flow.
 (D) Construction budget and schedule: Total budget: NT$ 248 million; construction is scheduled to take 910 calendar days.
 (E) Current status: The construction began on May 12, 2016 and is scheduled for completion on November 7, 2018.
6. Addition of on- and off-ramps to Freeway No. 5 Toucheng Interchange (Tender No. E14)
 (A) Background: After the opening of Freeway No. 5 in June of 2006, the Yilan area received more convenient transportation access. However, with it came an enormous traffic flow. This caused severe congestion on Provincial Highways 9 and 2G on weekends and holidays.
 (B) Project benefits: Ameliorating the traffic congestion at the intersection between the interchange connecting roads and Provincial Highways 2G and 9 to lessen the influence on ramp facilities, traffic in surrounding intersections, and transit traffic.
 (C) Project details:
1. To divert traffic by adding entrances and exits to the Freeway. Parts of the traffic using Provincial Highway 9 to access Freeway No. 5 can be diverted through the additional ramps.
2. Adding a southbound exit that connects to Yilan County Road 4 and adding a new northbound entrance to the main route. Additionally, diverting traffic to Provincial Highway 9 and 191A through traffic management means.
 (D) Construction budget and schedule: Total budget: NT$924 million; construction is scheduled to take 805 calendar days. The Toucheng Interchange is located at approximately the 30k mark of Freeway No. 5, or about 2 km south of the east entrance of Hsuehshan Tunnel. The interchange adopted a trumpet design after taking consideration of the engineering branch, weighbridges, highway police, and toll stations, as well as the toll policy at the time (from Nankang to Toucheng: mainline barrier frequency-based collection; from Toucheng to Suau: ramp-closed distance-based collection; the Toucheng toll plaza served as the dividing point).
 (E) Current status: The construction began on April 8, 2016 and is scheduled for completion on June 21, 2018.