Yunlin County News Reference 102.08.13
The 7km green corridor bike trial connecting Dounan Township and Huwei Township will be completed by the end of this November. The project ceremony was held on the August 13th by Yunlin County Magistrate Su Zhi-Fen and the former Deputy Magistrate Li Jin-Yong. Magistrate Su states that the project is to connect the existing sugar railway and the Huwei bike trails from Dounan Train Station to Jianguo 3rd Rd., a total of 1.4 km new trails which costs 6.7 million NT dollar to complete. Once completed at the end of this November, a total of 7km long network of trials will be opened for public.
Dounan Train Station was an important node in the history of transporting sugar, and it also provided an irreplaceable passenger transportation between Dounan Township and Huwei Township. After sugar transportation was suspended and the land around the railroad was gradually been developed into residential and commercial uses, the railroad seemed to be buried along in history.
Magistrate Su pointed out that the project is made possible when both Taiwan Sugar Corporation and Taiwan Railway Administration release their lands which were used originally for sugar/passenger transpiration. The county government is using these lands, through rationalization of important local historical sites and activation of unused space, to build a cultural center for its citizen. With series of bike lanes connecting each points of interest around the county, its government hopes that it would promote rural area tourism, improve the quality of life of its resident, and finally achieve the goal of "Sugar-Railway Green Corridor, Activating Spaces."
Magistrate noted that the project uses existing sugar track and connects it to a series of bike trails that has already been established; the new bike lane will start from Dounan Train Station and all the way to Jianguo 3rd Rd. Both sides of the new track will be decorated with 308 cinnamon trees or chinaberry trees. The new bike lane will be completed in November this year, and it will be a beautiful 7km corridor that can be enjoy by its resident as a pleasure or for commute.
Another project, the East Central Green Corridor Bike Trail program, funded by 37-million-NT-dollar grant from Sports Department of Ministry of Education is also being executed. After completion of these two projects, residents and tourists will be able to ride their bikes across and visit 7 different townships in the county including Huwei, Citong, Linnei, Douliu, Gukeng, Dounan, and Dapi townships. In addition, the bike lanes connecting both Mailiao Township and Kouhu Township has been approved and with 1.4 million NT dollars subsidies on the way; soon, Yunlin County bike lanes will have a completed network of mountain and coastal bike lanes and around the island with the national interlinked.