Traffic surges reported on multiple freeways, aggravated by pile-ups

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Heavy traffic congestion was seen in several parts of Taiwan's freeway system on Saturday, the first day of the Year of the Dragon and third day of the Lunar New Year holiday, with accidents making the situation worse.

As of 11 a.m., traffic volume reached 38.2 million vehicle-kilometers, a measure of traffic flow, and was likely to hit 122 million vehicle-kilometers by the end of the day, the National Freeway Bureau said in a statement issued Saturday.

Both figures were in line with previous estimates, the bureau said.

The average traffic flow on freeways from midnight Friday to 5 a.m. on Saturday reached 2.4 times the regular amount, according to the bureau, which opened the hard shoulder of 33 freeway sections prone to traffic snarls to ease congestion.

Drivers were advised to wait until after noon Saturday to travel southbound on freeways in western Taiwan and until after 5 p.m. to use the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 5 to avoid potential traffic jams, the bureau said.

As of 2:30 p.m. Saturday, traffic was still heavy on the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 5, with speeds of 20-40 kilometers per hour in the tunnel leading to Pinglin and speeds of 40-60 kph in the Xueshan Tunnel.

Other areas where traffic was backed up was on the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 3 from Yingge to Guanxi and of Freeway No. 1 from Yangmei to Hsinchu.

The bureau recommended alternative routes that could save drivers time.

Instead of taking Freeway No. 5, drivers heading to Pinglin or Yilan from Taipei could take Provincial Highway No. 9, and those planning to take Freeways No. 1 and No. 3 between Yangmei and Hsinchu and between Taichung and Yunlin County were advised to take Expressway No. 61.

Other alternative routes included taking Provincial Highway No. 63 instead of Freeway No. 6 to travel between Taichung and Nantou County, and taking Expressway No. 74 and Freeway No. 4 instead of Freeways No. 1 and No. 3 in the Taichung area.

Meanwhile, the Freeway Bureau said three traffic accidents occurring between 10 and 11 a.m. aggravated the traffic snarls, though they had been cleared by 11 a.m.

The first one, involving three sedans, took place at 10:02 a.m. at the 204-kilometer mark on the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 1, which led to a 9-km traffic snarl.

The second accident, involving two cars, happened at 10:09 a.m. at the 228.7 mark on the southbound lanes of the same freeway and led to a 7-km traffic jam.

The third one occurred at the 379-km mark on the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 3 at the Zhongliao Tunnel in Kaohsiung, where four sedans collided and triggered a 5-km traffic snarl, the bureau said.

There was also a 12-km traffic jam on the eastbound lanes of Freeway No. 10 between Renwu and Yanchao in Kaohsiung, followed by a 10-km traffic jam on the northbound lanes of Freeway No. 1 between Rende and Tainan, according to the Freeway Bureau.

The bureau encouraged people traveling around Taiwan by car to use the 1968 freeway app to stay up to the minute on traffic conditions on Taiwan's freeways.

There is also a 168.thb.gov.tw site providing real-time looks at traffic on Taiwan's provincial highways.