By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — A contractor has entered the competition for a key Siaogang (小港) section of National Freeway No. 7 (國道7號), offering a possible advance for the long-delayed project after three major construction packages initially failed to attract bids.
The Freeway Bureau said in an Aug. 26 briefing that the bidder passed a qualification review for the C705S Siaogang package. Its proposal is scheduled for evaluation on Aug. 27.
Two other major contracts remain unsettled. The C703S Fongliao (鳳寮) section is expected to be re-tendered in September, while officials are considering splitting the C706S Linhai Road (臨海路) package before seeking bids again later this year, according to United Daily News.
The 23-kilometer freeway would run from the Freeway No. 10 Renwu System Interchange, south through Renwu, Niaosong, Fongshan, Daliao and Siaogang, before connecting with Nansing Road and the Linhai Industrial Park. Its projected cost is about NT$150.1 billion.
The bureau said it is still aiming to open the route in 2030. However, the two unresolved packages and the project’s complex interchange work leave that schedule uncertain. Earlier reporting had cited 2032 as a revised target for the mainline.
The Renwu interchange is expected to be the project’s most difficult element, combining Freeway No. 7, Freeway No. 10 and the planned Kaohsiung-Pingtung second expressway through 13 ramps and overlapping elevated structures.
Officials said negotiated purchases now cover more than 80 percent of the land needed for the project. They may begin expropriation procedures for remaining plots if agreements cannot be reached.
When completed, the route is intended to divert port-bound container trucks from city streets. The Transport Ministry estimates that nearly half of the port traffic now using Route 17 could connect directly to the freeway.
