The long-awaited Pingtung Expressway in Hengchun Peninsula has entered the final stage of feasibility assessment by the Highway Bureau. Today, a local briefing meeting was held in Hengchun Town to discuss the matter. According to the interim report, the initially planned route corridor extended to the southern part of Hengchun Town.
However, to reduce environmental impact, a new proposal has been made to shorten the route to the northern part of Hengchun Town, resulting in a cost saving of 21.7 billion NT dollars.
Local attendees had mixed opinions on the new route, but they all complained about the lengthy 13-year estimated construction timeline and the concurrent construction noise from elevated structures and multiple locations.
Hengchun Peninsula residents have advocated for the extension of the Pingtung Expressway, also known as the “Pingnan Expressway,” to the east and south for many years. The project’s high cost, amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, led to its rejection by the Executive Yuan on the grounds of cost-effectiveness.
However, the local voices advocating for the expressway have never ceased, and it has even been humorously referred to as the most popular “campaign promise road” during elections.
Two years ago, residents from the four townships in Hengchun Peninsula initiated a petition with ten thousand signatures to push for the expressway. The Highway Bureau subsequently began a feasibility study two years ago, with an initial plan to complete the assessment next year.
However, both the county government and local residents demanded accelerated progress. Yesterday, the Highway Bureau held local briefing meetings in Chaozhou in the northern and Shizi Township in the central segments. Today, they continued the meetings in Hengchun Town in the southern segment, and local residents actively participated in the discussions.
According to Yiwei Engineering Consultants, the interim report for the expressway includes three segments: Segment A from Zhutian to Fangliao, Segment B from Fangliao to Fenggang, and Segment C from Fenggang to the southern side of downtown Hengchun, ending just north of Kenting National Park.
The total length of the expressway is approximately 75 kilometers, with a budget of over 176.3 billion NT dollars. Both the north and south ends of Hengchun downtown can be accessed via the expressway. However, the downside is that the traffic will enter the national park, potentially impacting the Longluantan area’s ecology and the Hengchun Valley’s recreational development.
Moreover, the total cost is too high, and the economic feasibility is not viable, making it challenging to promote. They suggest considering an alternative option with the endpoint in the north side of Hengchun downtown, at the northern end of Baoli Creek, which would shorten the route by 9 kilometers and save 21.7 billion NT dollars, making it a more feasible option for implementation.
Regarding the new proposal of shortening the route, Zhao Jiming 趙記明, the chairman of the Hengchun Town Representative Assembly, believes that if the endpoint of the Pingnan Expressway is set in the north side of Hengchun downtown, it will cause traffic congestion in the northern area. He suggests relocating the endpoint to Hengxi Road on Provincial Highway 26, which would facilitate access to the downtown area and be closer to Hengchun Christian Hospital.
This way, in case of a major traffic accident, it could save time for medical transportation, and economic benefits should not be the sole criteria for evaluation. County Councilor Pan Fangquan 潘芳泉 believes that the saved funds should be invested in improving the surrounding road conditions.
As for the evaluation, it is estimated to take around 13 years, and the second-stage environmental impact assessment may even take 5 years. Upon hearing this, attendees shook their heads and complained, “It’s taking too long!”
Former legislator Su Qingquan suggested following the example of the Wuyang Expressway and constructing an on-site elevated highway to save time on environmental impact assessments and land acquisition.
At the current pace, many on-site people, including himself, fear they won’t live to see its completion. Legislator Liao Wanru proposed simultaneous construction at multiple locations to shorten the time. County councilor Lu Wenxin said that residents have been waiting forever, but they should prioritize getting the project started and can consider building it up to Fenggang first.
The consulting company emphasized that this is a massive project costing hundreds of billions of dollars, and there are not many domestic contractors capable of handling billion-dollar road projects. Concurrent construction presents high levels of difficulty, but by synchronizing the design and land acquisition stages, the construction period can be shortened.