Taoyuan railway undergrounding enters peak phase, city demands better traffic control

Taoyuan City's ambitious railway undergrounding project is now entering its most intensive construction phase, leading to reduced train speeds and consequently, longer durations for level crossing barriers to remain down. The city government is urging the project's construction unit, the Railway Bureau, to implement more robust traffic management strategies to address the anticipated congestion.

During a recent Taoyuan City traffic safety meeting, the Railway Bureau presented its traffic maintenance plan for the project. Discussions focused on key intersections and underpasses, including Jian'guo East Road, Puren Village, and those on Puzhong, Minzu, and Linsen Roads. The plan outlines various traffic control methods, such as semi-closures, full closures, and detours, to be implemented based on construction conditions. Measures will be coordinated to avoid simultaneous disruption of adjacent alternative routes.

Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng emphasized the need for the Railway Bureau to proactively identify traffic bottlenecks and adhere to the principles of 'plan first, inform first, improve first.' He called for enhanced detour guidance, deployment of traffic controllers, signal adjustments, and public awareness campaigns. The mayor also stressed that the potential for trains to slow down during construction, leading to extended level crossing downtimes, must be factored into the overall plan and submitted to the city's Department of Transportation for review well in advance.

Vice Mayor Wang Ming-chu highlighted that the next two years will be a period of highly overlapping construction activities. The increased waiting times at level crossings due to slower trains could trigger cascading traffic jams in surrounding areas. The city government's review of traffic maintenance plans will extend beyond the immediate construction sites to encompass the impact of train slowdowns and external road networks.

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plan first, inform first, improve first