The Southern Cross-Island Highway (), also known as Provincial Highway No. 20, links

Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of hist ...

on the west coast to

Taitung City Taitung City () is a county-administered city and the county seat of Taitung County, Taiwan. It lies on the southeast coast of Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean. Taitung City is the most populous subdivision of Taitung County and it is one of the ...

on the east coast, on the southern section of the island 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 ...

. The road is long. From west to east, the road passes through the townships of Sinhua, Yujing, Jiasian, and then the aboriginal communities of Taoyuan, Meishan, and Lidao. The highest point of the road, Yakou, is above sea level. The section from Meishan to Yakou Tunnel lies within

Yushan National Park Yushan National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the summit Yushan, the highest peak of the park.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 ...

, the road follows the

Laonong River The Laonong River, also spelled Laonung River (), is a tributary of the Gaoping River in Taiwan; it is the main course of the river system above the Gaoping River. It flows through Kaohsiung City for 136 km. See also *List of rivers in Taiwa ...

Valley for a considerable distance. The road, considered one of South Taiwan's major tourist attractions, is sometimes damaged by landslides, especially during the wet summer months. The route was cut through the mountains in the early 1970s, but the highest sections were not properly surfaced until 1992. This highway and its surrounding used to have mountain entry control so visitors had to pay a low fee to get Class B mountain entry permits (入山許可證). The mountain entry control is no longer in effect so mountain entry permits are no longer required.

Typhoon damage and reconstruction

The highway was badly damaged by

Typhoon Morakot Typhoon Morakot, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Kiko, was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan in recorded history. The eighth named storm and fourth typhoon of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season, Morakot wrought catastrophic damage in Taiwa ...

in 2009, with landslides washing away entire sections, and has been closed ever since. Since then there have been continuous reconstruction works. In 2012 heavy rainfall caused further damage. The reopening of the entire length was not expected until end of April 2022, and that deadline was met with long queues after reopening.

Gallery

Image:南橫一景 - panoramio.jpg, Southern Cross-Island Highway File:Caixia Tunnel below the high cliff on the Southern Cross Island Highway.jpg, A Tunnel on the Southern Cross-Island Highway

References

Sources

*Derek Lee, 2004
A highway less traveled.
Taipei Times Highways in Taiwan {{Taiwan-road-stub