By KHT Staff. Images via Pingtung County Govt.
PINGTUNG — Work has begun on a new bypass road in Shuidiliao (水底寮), a long-congested traffic hub in Fangliao Township (枋寮鄉), as Pingtung County pushes ahead with wider transport upgrades in the south.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Shuidiliao bypass was held on April 29. The Pingtung County Government said the project is intended to ease traffic through central Fangliao, where heavy holiday traffic, frequent traffic lights, and local congestion have long slowed vehicles moving through southern Pingtung.
Pingtung County Magistrate Chou Chun-mi (周春米) said the bypass is an early-stage project linked to the planned Pingnan Expressway (屏南快速道路), which is expected to improve transport between Pingtung’s southern townships and the rest of the county.
The bypass will run about 4.3 kilometers and cost about NT$873 million. It is planned as a four-lane road with slow-vehicle lanes and a design speed of 70 kilometers per hour. The county said the project will also include drainage, flood-control, and landscaping work.
Central government transport investment in Pingtung is expected to exceed NT$310 billion, including the high-speed rail extension to Pingtung, the Second Kaohsiung-Pingtung Expressway (高屏第二快速道路), and the Pingnan Expressway. The Second Kaohsiung-Pingtung Expressway is expected to break ground in September, while the Pingnan Expressway has entered the second stage of environmental review.
The county government said the project should reduce through-traffic in Fangliao, improve road safety, and shorten travel times to the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島). It said better road access would also support emergency medical transport, disaster response, agriculture, and tourism in southern Pingtung.
