Provincial Highway 12, named as Taiwan Boulevard (台灣大道) for its entire length, is a 23.2 km east–west highway that connects

Port of Taichung The Port of Taichung (), also Taichung Port, is a port located in Wuqi District, Taichung, Taiwan. It is the second-largest port in Taiwan after Kaohsiung Port and operated by Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Taiwan's state-owned harbor m ...

in Wuqi with downtown

Taichung City 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 ...

. Highway 12 is one of the major thoroughfares of Taichung, connecting the historic downtown at Central District with its newer

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Xitun District Xitun District or Situn District (, literally "western village") is the second-most populated district of Taichung, Taiwan. It is located on the western side of the city. Once considered part of the countryside, the district has seen rapid growt ...

. The road is also one of three that connect to

National freeway 1 National Freeway 1 (), also known as Sun Yat-sen Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan, the first freeway built in Taiwan. It begins in Keelung at the intersection of Xiao 2nd Road and Zhong 4th Road and ends in Kaohsiung at the intersection of Zh ...

in Xitun. Between 2014 and 2015, the

Taichung BRT The Taichung BRT ( Chinese: 臺中快捷巴士) was a bus rapid transit (BRT) system located in Taichung which stretched from Taichung TRA station to Providence University via Taiwan Boulevard, a major thoroughfare. The line was in length with ...

ran on Highway 12 between

Taichung railway station Taichung station () is a railway station in Taichung, Taiwan served by Taiwan Railways Administration. It is served by all TRA services along the route. History The station was originally constructed in 1905 in a wooden building architectural ...

and

Providence University Providence University (PU; ) is a Catholic co-educational institution in Shalu District, Taichung City, Taiwan. Providence University is one of the U12 Consortium member schools, and is one of two Taiwan universities participating in the ISEP ne ...

Shalu District Shalu District (; lit: Sand Deer) is a suburban district in central Taichung City, Taiwan. History Originally a settlement of the Papora people, this region was named . During the Kingdom of Tungning (1662－1683), the Taiwanese Plains Aborigin ...

, and there are plans to build a metro line at the BRT system's former course.

Route description

Highway 12 begins with additional separated

motorcycle lanes Motorcycle lane is a term used for the special lane on a roadway that is designated for small vehicles such as motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and trishaw. It's usually situated between the other lanes, marked by 2 parallel yellow lines. Due to t ...

on each side at the intersection with Highway 17 in

Wuqi District Wuqi District () is a coastal suburban district in southern Taichung, Taiwan. The Port of Taichung is located in Wuqi District. History After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, Wuqi was organized as an urban t ...

, near the gate of the

. The route runs southeast, crossing Highway 61 and

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

, before being elevated over the Western Trunk railway line via the Shalu Overpass (沙鹿陸橋). At downtown

, the route turns south and begins climbing the

Dadu Plateau The Dadu Plateau (), also known as Dadu Mountain or Dadushan (), is a plateau that stretches across Taichung, Taiwan. It borders the Taichung Basin in the east and the seacoast of Taichung in the west, and lies between the Dajia River and the Da ...

. At

, the two lanes directly adjacent to the motorcycle lane divider become

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...

s, which were formerly dedicated to the

, but now permit conventional buses to run on. Near the peak, the road turns southeast and briefly enters

Longjing District Longjing District () is a coastal suburban district in western Taichung, Taiwan. Geography Longjing shares borders with Wuqi and Shalu to the north, Xitun to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Dadu and Shengang in Changhua County ...

as it intersects Zhongxing Road, which connects to County Route 136 for access to

National Freeway 3 National Freeway 3 (), also known as Formosa Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan. It is the second north–south freeway in Taiwan, beginning in Keelung City at Jijin Interchange on the provincial highway 2 (Jijin Road) and ending in Linbian, Ping ...

. The road enters

as it descends into downtown Taichung. At the bottom, the road crosses the Fazi River, then connects to

National Freeway 1 National Freeway 1 (), also known as Sun Yat-sen Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan, the first freeway built in Taiwan. It begins in Keelung at the intersection of Xiao 2nd Road and Zhong 4th Road and ends in Kaohsiung at the intersection of Zh ...

and Highway 74 before the middle lanes are elevated over County Route 127 on an overpass known as Guangming Overpass (光明陸橋). After crossing Highway 1B in

West District, Taichung West District () is a district of Taichung, Taiwan. It is the second smallest district in Taichung City after Central District. Former Taichung City Hall and part of Taichung City Government offices are located in this district. History The ...

, the road's motorcycle lanes and bus lanes end. The road continues through Central District before ending at the north side of

Major intersections

The entire route is in

References

Highways in Taiwan {{taiwan-road-stub