MacArthur Thruway (; shortened to ), was the first

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, linking

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Keelung Keelung ( ; zh, p=Jīlóng, c=基隆, poj=Ke-lâng), Chilung or Jilong ( ; ), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city in northeastern Taiwan. The city is part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area with neighboring New Ta ...

from 1964 to 1977. It was a predecessor to the

's National Highway System.

Route

Starting in Taipei at what is now Taipei Gymnasium, the MacArthur Thruway headed east along Nanjing East Road, intersected with

Keelung Road Keelung Road ( is a major arterial road and highway in Taipei, Taiwan, named for Keelung. It connects the Neihu district from the MacArthur 1st Bridge in the east with the Songshan District, Taipei, Songshan, Xinyi District, Taipei, Xinyi, and Da ...

at Zhengqi Bridge, and crossed the

Keelung River The Keelung River ( zh, c=基隆河, p=Jīlóng Hé, w=Chi1-lung2 Ho2, poj=Ke-lâng-hô) is a river in northern Taiwan. The Keelung River originates in the mountains west-northwest of the town of Jingtong in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, flo ...

. From there, it went through

Neihu Neihu District is a district of Taipei City, Taiwan. Neihu means "inner lake." The older name originates from the Ketagalan word ''Tayour'' (transliterated by the Dutch as ''Cattajo''), meaning woman's head ornament. Many mountainous roads a ...

Xizhi Xizhi () is an inner city district in eastern New Taipei City in northern Taiwan, and is located between Taipei City and Keelung City. Compared to most districts in eastern New Taipei, which are very sparsely populated, Xizhi is one of the mor ...

, and Qidu, ending in

at the intersection of Xiao 2nd Road (孝二路) and Zhong 4th Road (忠四路). The length was . To handle the heavy traffic between Taipei and Keelung, the road was designed as a controlled-access highway, with 32 bridges, 12 interchanges, and one tunnel called the Zhongxing Tunnel. The tolls for using the road were NT$10 for large vehicles, NT$5 for small vehicles, and NT$1 for military vehicles. Tricycles, motorcycles, and bicycles were prohibited. Originally the speed limits were set to 80 km/h for flat sections and 60 km/h for hilly sections, but this was soon changed to 100 km/h and 80 km/h, respectively.

History

Construction of the MacArthur Thruway began in May 1962, took two years, and cost NT$260 million, including aid from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The road opened on May 2, 1964. Originally, it was to be named Beiji 2nd Road (), and it was later renamed Beiji Xin Road (). After General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

died a month before the road opened, the road was renamed in his honor. Unfortunately, the road was plagued with accidents. It was less than wide, with only one lane in each direction. There was no

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

to separate oncoming traffic, nor were there barriers along the side of the road. Traffic safety was not a well developed concept. Finally, the quality of the construction was poor. These factors led to a total of 51 accidents and casualties of 273 people within the first two years of the road's opening. The 1979 opening of

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

superseded most of the MacArthur Thruway. The primary remaining section is from the MacArthur 1st Bridge to the Neihu Interchange of National Freeway 1, about long. In 1980, it was renamed Section 6, Nanjing East Road. It was later rebuilt as an elevated expressway named in 2001. The frontage road along this section was also renamed to Section 6, Nanjing East Road in 2009. The other remaining sections are parts of Kangning Street in

Xizhi District Xizhi () is an inner city district in eastern New Taipei City in northern Taiwan, and is located between Taipei City and Keelung City. Compared to most districts in eastern New Taipei, which are very sparsely populated, Xizhi is one of the mor ...

New Taipei New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

and Lane 253, Shijian Road in

Qidu District Qidu District or Cidu District () is a district of the city of Keelung, Taiwan. It borders New Taipei to the west. History During the period of Japanese rule, included modern day Qidu and Nuannuan districts and was governed under of Ta ...

. In 2019–20, two bridges on the latter road were rebuilt due to their condition and narrow width.

References

External links

* * Highways in Taiwan Roads in Taipei Transportation in Keelung {{taiwan-road-stub