SU AO HIGHWAY CLOSED DUE TO CONTINUED LANDSLIDES, NO REPAIR AS YET |蘇花公路坍塌落石不斷 端午假期後才通

On the evening of May 28, Provincial Highway 9, the Su Ao highway, was closed due to landslide and rockfall at the Jiu Gong Li section. Originally it was planned to have the road cleared by the morning of May 29. However, as the situation was serious, it won't be cleared until after the four-day holiday. On May 29, the Taiwan Railways Administration added four train services to help with transport between Yilan County and Hualien County. For those traveling from Hualien to Yilan, the National Freeway Bureau says there are three alternative routes, but all of them are beginning to show signs of traffic jams. These images from a drone show the rockfall on the Su Ao Highway. The landslide and rockfall at the 112.6 kilometer mark meant it was closed from Sunday. The area affected by the landslide continued to expand and repair workers with their equipment could only wait and watch. ==CHEN WEN-CHANG Nan Ao Section chief== The damaged banks are about 150 meters in height, as the banks are just continually sliding down, there is no way to repair them. The Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau said that it established that by May 29, and 30, there was no way in which the road would be open to traffic. After 5 pm on May 30, the estimated time for the road to be opened again would be announced, but this may be delayed for as long as the landslides continued. As the holiday draws to a close, Taiwan Railways Administration assisted by laying on four extra emergency train services. On May 30, the last day of the holiday, since extra holiday services had already been laid on previously, the only way to add extra services was to stop at extra stations. ==HUANG JUNG-HUA Dir., TRA Taipei Train Station== Tomorrow all our extra services mean that there is already full density on the line, if we need to take on extra passengers we will add in stops at extra stations. ==PASSENGER Hualien Station== The coach has to rest here for two days and can only return once the road is repaired (So you had to come and take the train?) Yes, yes. There were large crowds at TRA's Hualien Station by the afternoon. Apart from the Puyuma and Taroko trains for which tickets were not on sale, every single service was full. The TANFB advised those who had to drive back from Hualien that there are three alternative routes north: the Central Cross Island Highway to Lishan and then Provincial Highway 7 to Ilan; or the Central Cross Island Highway, then Taiwan Provincial Highway 14 to Nantou, then west; or south to Taitung and then take the southern loop to Pingtung, then return west and north. These would probably all take an extra seven hours. On the afternoon of May 29, there was a wave of vehicles returning north and the TANFB reminded the public that due to rain the mountain roads were slippery and they should drive carefully. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 端午連假即將進入尾聲，台9線蘇花公路''九宮里''路段，昨晚因落石不斷暫時封閉，原定今天上午通車，卻因為天候不佳，落石狀況更加嚴重，確定端午假期後才能通車！台鐵今天下午跟晚間，加開四列次區間車緊急支援。公路總局提醒，有三條北返替代路線，不過替代路線也開始出現塞車狀況。 無人空拍機拍下蘇花公路落石的影片，滾滾碎石從山上一路往下滑動，還伴隨著小石子不斷彈跳，蘇花公路112.6公里處，從週日封閉後，間歇性落石仍然不斷，坍滑坡面持續擴大，現場搶災機具和人員只能在旁邊警戒監看。 ==南澳段長 陳文昌== 那坍方的高度 邊坡的高度約有150米 因為現在落石坍方持續不斷 那無法進行搶修 公路總局宣布，週一、週二兩天已確定無法通車，將在週二下午五點，宣布隔天的通車時間。一旦現場落石持續，不排除再延後搶通時間，由於正逢端午節收假日倒數，協調台鐵緊急支援，30日收假日當天，因加班車的密度已經飽和，只能以增加停靠站的方式疏運。 ==台鐵台北站長 黃榮華== 因為我們明天 所有的加班列車 路線的一個密度 已經滿額了 如果有必要載運旅客的話 我們會採用增停方式來辦理 ==台鐵花蓮站旅客== 遊覽車要在這裡休息兩天 通路了才可以回去 （所以就趕快來搭火車) 對呀 對呀 台鐵花蓮站下午起陸續湧現人潮，除了沒有販售站位的普悠瑪和太魯閣列車外，幾乎班班"站滿"旅客，公路總局則提供開車到花蓮的遊客，三條北返替代路線：可以走中橫到梨山再走台7甲往宜蘭，或走中橫接台14甲線往南投，也可以往南到台東走南迴接屏東再北返，費時大約七小時。 下午中橫公路已出現北返車潮，公路總局也提醒民眾，山區因雨路滑，民眾行車要特別小心。 綜合報導