Suhua Highway Improvement Project

The Suhua Highway Improvement Project (Chinese: 蘇花公路改善計畫; pinyin: Sū-Huā Gōnglù Gǎishàn Jìhuà; colloquially 蘇花改, pinyin: Sūhuāgǎi) is a major highway project in northeast Taiwan to improve and bypass dangerous sections of the Suhua Highway, part of Provincial Highway 9.

The Suhua Highway is the main road connecting the Taiwanese communities of Su'ao and Hualien, and a portion of it is built alongside very steep cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean. Because of the rugged terrain, the road is often closed due to heavy rain, typhoons, or landslides, leading to injuries and deaths.

In the 1990s, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) started planning a new freeway to connect Su'ao and Hualien, as part of Freeway 5. However, it was controversial because of its huge projected construction costs and environmental impact. Instead, the MOTC developed a scaled-down project, which would construct bridges and tunnels in three dangerous sections: Su'ao–Dong'ao (9.8 km, 6.1 mi), Nan'ao–Heping (20 km, 12 mi), and Heping–Qingshui (8.6 km, 5.3 mi). Compared to a freeway, the improved highway would have a lower speed limit and still have only one lane in each direction. The new alignment will cut travel time along the coastline from 2.5 hours to 80 minutes. Some parts of the old alignment will be kept open for bicycles and small vehicles, with a speed limit of 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph).

The project was named the Suhua Highway Alternative Project (Chinese: 蘇花公路替代計畫; pinyin: Sū-Huā Gōnglù Tìdài Jìhuà; colloquially 蘇花替 pinyin: Sūhuātì) in 2008. Its name was changed to its current name in 2010.

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