By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — A long-planned second expressway linking Kaohsiung and Pingtung is facing renewed opposition from residents in Dashu District (大樹區), even as the project moves toward construction on its Pingtung end.
The Highway Bureau said plans call for the expressway to run about 22.6 kilometers from the Zuoying High Speed Rail Station (高鐵左營站) area, passing National Freeways No. 7 and No. 10 before crossing the Kaoping River and connecting with National Freeway No. 3. The four-lane route is planned to include three system interchanges and five local ramps.
The Kaohsiung-Pingtung Second East-West Expressway (高雄-屏東間東西向第2條快速公路), or the Kaoping Second Expressway (高屏二快), was approved by the Executive Yuan in September 2025 after years of planning and environmental review. The project is now in the detailed design stage, with construction on the Pingtung-side C1 section expected to begin this year.
Residents in Sanhe Village (三和里) in Dashu District have objected to the current route, stating that changes to the design would necessitate the expropriation of private land. Protesters have called for the project to revert to its earlier 2018 alignment, which they claim relied more heavily on public land.
The bureau said the current route was selected after reviewing engineering, traffic, and environmental factors. Officials said the route was shifted northeast to avoid the military’s Dashu North Camp (大樹北營區), the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology’s Linyuan Camp (林園營區), and sensitive areas near the Kaoping River Dashu Weir (高屏溪大樹攔河堰), an important water source for Kaohsiung.
Supporters of the current route argue that reopening the alignment debate could delay the project for years, while residents facing land expropriation say the burden has shifted unfairly onto local landowners.
The case highlights a familiar problem in major infrastructure projects: the route that clears technical, environmental, and administrative hurdles is not always the route that minimizes local opposition.
