The Central Cross-Island Highway () or Provincial Highway 8 is one of three highway systems that connect the west coast with the east of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
Construction
The construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway began on July 7, 1956 and was first opened to traffic on May 9, 1960.
Route
The route of the highway begins in the west at
Dongshi District
Dongshi District (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tûng-sṳ) is a suburban district in eastern Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is the third largest district by area in Taichung City after Heping District and Taiping District. A majority of the resi ...
in
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
. The highway originally continued up into the
Central Mountain Range
The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. Due to this separation, connecting between the west and east is not very convenient. The tallest peak of th ...
following the
Dajia River
Dajia River () is the fifth-longest river in Taiwan located in the north-central of the island. It flows through Taichung City for 142 km.
The sources of the Dajia are: Hsuehshan and Nanhu Mountain in the Central Mountain Range. The Dajia R ...
valley through the townships of
Guguan
Guguan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is currently uninhabited. Guguan is located south from Alamagan and north from Saipan, and is northeast from Sarigan.
History
Guguan was discovered in 1668 b ...
(谷關) and
Cingshan (青山). However, the section between Guguan and Lishan is permanently closed to non-residents due to earthquake and typhoon damage. At Lishan there is a branch that heads north to
Yilan City
Yilan City (Mandarin pinyin: ''Yílán Shì''; Hokkien POJ: ''Gî-lân-chhī'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Yilan County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China. The city lies on the north side of the Lanyang River.
Histo ...
. Passing through the mountains it reaches
Dayuling
Dayuling (, el. 2565 m), formerly Hehuan Pass (), is a mountain pass in Taiwan transversing the Central Mountain Range between Hehuanshan and Mt. Bilu (畢祿山), within Taroko National Park. Administratively, it is located in Xiulin, H ...
(大禹嶺) which is the highest point of the route. Here another branch of the highway runs south from Dayuling to
Puli via
Wuling
Wuling may refer to:
People
* Xu Wuling (许武岭, born 14 September 1971), professional rower
* Yu Wuling (于武陵, born 810), poet
* Zhang Wuling (张武龄, 1889-1938), educator
* King Wuling of Zhao (趙武靈王, 340-295 BCE), ruler of th ...
(武嶺). Continuing east from Dayuling the highway route now begins its descent into the
Taroko National Park
Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is l ...
. It passes through
Guanyuan (關原),
Cih-en (慈恩),
Luoshao (洛韶) and before entering
Taroko Gorge
Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is lo ...
. After the gorge the route then connects with the eastern coastal
Su'ao-Hualien Highway
The Suhua Highway (), also called the Suao-Hualien Highway, is a section of the Provincial Highway 9 in Taiwan, starting at Su'ao Township, Yilan County and ending at Hualien City, Hualien County. With a portion built alongside very steep c ...
.
Highway damage and closure
The highway route runs through exceedingly rugged and unstable terrain. Heavy rain from typhoons often dislodge soil and rocks onto the highway making sections of it impassable. As well, the area is prone to seismic activity which can have disastrous effects on the highway. On September 21, 1999 the
Jiji earthquake caused massive damage to the highway and cut the highway in multiple places between Guguan and Lishan.
Following the unprecedented damage to the highway in 1999, there was strong debate on the feasibility and desirability of maintaining and repairing the highway. Extensive and costly repairs proceeded, and earthquake-damaged sections of the highway were due to be re-opened in 2004. However, torrential rains from
Typhoon Mindulle caused further damage to the highway, forcing the affected section between Guguan and Lishan to be closed to non-residents indefinitely. While Provincial Highway 8 no longer provides a continuous route across the island, travelers from the west can use
Provincial Highway 14 and
Provincial Highway 14A to connect with Provincial Highway 8 in the east.
On November 16, 2018, the section between Guguan and Lishan re-opened to limited traffic. 3 medium-sized busses are scheduled to run the route (back and forth) each day but no ordinary private vehicle traffic is allowed.
Gallery
Image:Taiwan_Central_Cross-Island_Highway_Entrance.jpg, Entrance of Central Cross-Island Highway
Image:Taiwan 2009 HuaLien Taroko Gorge Biking FRD 5416 Pano Extracted.jpg, Bicycling uphill at Taroko Gorge
Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is lo ...
Image:Taiwan 2009 HuaLien Taroko Gorge Biking PB160057.jpg, Bicyclists share narrow roads with motor vehicles
Image:Taiwan 2009 HuaLien Taroko Gorge FRD 5467.jpg, Protection from waterfalls
Image:Taiwan 2009 HuaLien Taroko Gorge FRD 5527 Pano Extracted.jpg, Gorge views
See also
*
Highway system in Taiwan
References
External links
* Searc
Taipei Times newspaper archivesfor references to the highway
{{Taiwan Provincial Highways
Highways in Taiwan