Taichung officials seek funding for roads to ease TSMC expansion traffic

Legislators and local officials are calling for increased central government funding to address severe traffic congestion in Taichung caused by the expansion of TSMC within the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP).

As the CTSP Phase II expansion progresses, the influx of workers and construction vehicles has pushed Xitun Road to its capacity. To mitigate this, officials are advocating for the development of the Special No. 5 Road, a project estimated to cost 4.1 billion TWD.

Legislative Deputy Speaker Jiang Qichen and Legislator Yan Kuanheng emphasized that the financial burden of connecting industrial parks to local road networks should not fall solely on the local government. They argued that the CTSP Administration and the National Science and Technology Council should share the costs, similar to models used for the Hsinchu and Southern Taiwan Science Parks. Officials warned that without proactive infrastructure planning, the increased job opportunities provided by the expansion could lead to significant public dissatisfaction due to gridlock.