Okay, so I know Taiwan’s roads aren’t generally the best in the world but the work they have done on bu-zi road in Taichung is an absolute disgrace (the one that runs from xin she / da keng down to tai-yuan road).
At least ten separate contractors have been digging this bastard up for over a year, then re-digging and re-re-digging to the point where the road is so full of potholes, bumps and other fun that it’s virtually undriveable now. Also, on tai-yuan road, why did they dig a really long stretch on the inside car lane specially positioned to rattle the everliving shit out of your right wheel? Anyone who lives around here now refuses to drive in that lane, which slows down traffic even more than usual at rush hour. When I go offroading the mountain dirt trails are more comfortable than bu-zi-friggin-lu.
So who should I be directing my frothing annoyance towards? My gf says but this is because local government haven’t dished out the correct bribes to contractors so they’ve turned the road into shit on purpose. I’m not entirely convinced by this because in a moment of almost unimaginably clear logic, the local govt have installed a big fat concrete divider further up on the same road, for which I heartily applaud them. There used to be so many accidents and near misses up there with dickheads overtaking across the yellow lines or turning into 2 lanes of fast-moving traffic because they were too lazy to drive an extra 30 yards.
Lol llary, haven’t been up your way in a while, but I know what it was like last time I was there…
But be at peace… It’s not just BuZi Rd. It’s everywhere in Taichung. And you know what? It’s going to become worse, because (according to my wife) there are plans to build a subway here. Oh joy is that gunna be fun~
[quote=“x08”]Lol llary, haven’t been up your way in a while, but I know what it was like last time I was there…
But be at peace… It’s not just BuZi Rd. It’s everywhere in Taichung. And you know what? It’s going to become worse, because (according to my wife) there are plans to build a subway here. Oh joy is that gunna be fun~[/quote]
To be honest, in general and taking into account the traffic volumes I think the roads are okay. They actually do a pretty good job of maintaining the mountain roads near my house. Since they started doing whatever work they are doing though, Bu-zi road is a fucking joke. It’s not a little backarse country road, it’s a pretty major thoroughfare and if you walk along the side you can actually see springs, bolts and other parts of varying size that had obviously got fed up of living in their respective vehicles. IMO the companies involved should all be fined for completely fucking up a public road, but given that legislators who kick up a fuss with building contractors tend to get murdered 'round these parts, I guess I can’t really blame them for doing sweet diddle all about it.
They are digging for the MRT on Nan-Jing E. Rd east of Dun-Hwa in Taipei. I live right there. Metal sheets in some places. Concrete slabs put together connected with raised metal edges for some road sections. Asphalt of all textures and levels in between. 4 years of this has just begun. At least it’s not just a perpetually shitty road all on its own, and the MRT is coming, but yikes…
I remember Roosevelt Rd. like this (also MRT digging) many moons ago when I was first here. My then Vespa, the ass-heavy unit that it was, would fishtail in the rain on the metal sheets that served as road surface.
[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“llary”]
So who should I be directing my frothing annoyance towards?[/quote]
General Secretary of the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Mei Ban-fa[/quote]
Yeah…this guy is responsible for a lot of things around here!..
Anyway…as llary said, Bu-Tze road has been totally mangled bu every different contractor that has touched it…it’s now more smooth to ride a scooter on the bike path parallel to the road…the problem is this…how can anyone (resident or government official) accept such crap?..I’m from Quebec, and we have cold winters that challenge all roads every winter…we get cracks in the road, potholes and crumbling road surfaces due to the extreme cold…so the deterioration is caused by natural elements…it’s not great, and the government does a half-decent job at trying to keeps things ok…but here, we are talking about man-made destruction…Bu-Tze road and Ta-Yuan road were perfectly good roads until the asshats from the contractors came and started to dig it up to do whatever job they had to do!..it’s a total shame and I can’t believe this has been accepted by the people who drive there…of course, not only is it not a smooth road, it’s very unsafe…I’ve seen scooters geting bashed and thrown around while trying to drive in a straight line!..
like X08 said, the plan for the MRT in Taichung means that were are not about to see any improvements anytime soon!..
I’m starting to consider a GS after all… I can get used to how it rides… but soon, it’s the only (style) bike that will be able to ride half-decent on Taichung’s roads…
Try calling 0800693168 to report road conditions, traffic lights out, signage problems etc. nationwide (although the lady who answered said it was only for the whole ‘province’). Mandarin only, AFAIK.
[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“llary”]
So who should I be directing my frothing annoyance towards?[/quote]
General Secretary of the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Mei Ban-fa[/quote]
or else you could contact the Director of Public Works Quality Assurance, Mr.Cha bu-duo…
Those roads Llary mentioned are shockingly bad… I know all the old wives tales and shoddy excuses for the bloody awful roads in Taiwan, and I know where the very low standards lie… but Bu Zi Rd and most of Tai Yuan Rd. have been utterly destroyed, 6 months ago they were prestine, some of the best roads in Taichung, now they’re on a par with Baghdad… I’m the first to attest to the mind bendingly low standards of workmanship in Taiwanese public works projects or any projects at all for that matter, but the state of the roads mentioned above goes beyond even the usual shameless, half arsed, blundering that the neanderthal road crews spew out… hard to imagine how it’s not deliberate…
GS’s or other long travel suspension bikes have always been the only choice for Taiwanese roads IMO… Street bikes are great, but the gulf between the “roads” they were designed to operate on and the manhole cover infested scale reproductions of the surface of the Moon that they call “roads” in Taiwan is oceanic in depth… If you really are after a GS X08, I hate to say it but mine’s up for sale…
[quote=“plasmatron”]
Those roads Llary mentioned are shockingly bad… I know all the old wives tales and shoddy excuses for the bloody awful roads in Taiwan, and I know where the very low standards lie… but Bu Zi Rd and most of Tai Yuan Rd. have been utterly destroyed, 6 months ago they were prestine, some of the best roads in Taichung, now they’re on a par with Baghdad…[/quote]
Exactly… it’s a real shame, especially when some rare flicker of common sense leaped into somebody’s head and the concrete divider was built up towards the Da-Keng end. That divider is going to save lives, seriously.
As for the fuckup that is Bu-zi road, even my gf hangs her head in shame every time we have to drive down there. Many of the locals seem to have abandoned the Da Keng circle route altogether and now clog up Dong Shan road instead.
I’ve asked around but can’t find out what they’re doing there. It looks like some kind of private housing project where each utility is going in turn to dig up the already dug-up road and they’re STILL FUCKING AT IT. I’m not kidding when I say this road has done more damage to my 4x4 than any country trail, dirt track or mountain asscrack. Surprisingly enough, the RZX does a pretty good job and gets me to Tai-yuan road with only a bust-up kidney and a couple of bruised ribs.