National Road 3 (Taiwan)

	Template: Infobox high-ranking street / maintenance / TW-N
	National Road 3 in Taiwan
	map
	Basic data
Operator:	Taiwan Highway Department
Start of the street:	Keelung
End of street:	Linbian
Overall length:	431 km
of which in operation:	431 km
Cities and Counties :	Keelung; Taipei; New Taipei; Taoyuan; Hsinchu; Miaoli; Taichung; Changhua; Yunlin; Chiayi; Tainan; Kaohsiung;

The National Road 3 ( Chinese 國道三號 , Pinyin Guódào sān hào ) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) , also known as the Formosa Highway ( 福爾摩沙高速公路 , Fúěrmóshā gāosù gōnglù ) (English National Freeway 3 or Formosa Freeway 3 ) , is a highway in Taiwan . At 431 kilometers, the highway is the longest highway in the country, from Keelung in the north via Taipei and other major cities along the west coast to Linbian in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan. The motorway runs parallel to the motorway for almost its entire length .

Street description

The national road 3 begins in the port city of Keelung with 2 × 3 lanes and runs parallel to the national road 1. Then it crosses the national road 1 east of Taipei, which then leads north and west past Taipei and thus forms a bypass of the city. The national road 3, however, leads past Taipei in the east, where it crosses the highway 5 , which runs east towards Yilan on the coast to the south. National Road 3 has 2 × 3 lanes along Taipei and runs just outside of the city through forested and mountainous areas, and has a series of highway tunnels in the course. After connecting Provincial Road 64, the road has 2x4 lanes and follows a valley through the suburbs of Taipei. Near Taoyuan , it crosses Highway 2, which leads to Taoyuan and Taipei Airport.

After that, the motorway has 2x3 lanes and leads to the southwest through a hilly area. At Baoshan, National Road 3 crosses National Road 1 for the second time and runs along the coast towards Zhunan . The motorway has 2 × 3 lanes on the long routes and runs through an agricultural area with numerous small towns. Northwest of Taichung you cross National Road 4 , a short east-west highway north of Taichung City. National Road 3 runs through the large port area west of Taichung, while National Road 1, which runs parallel, connects Taichung City. Southwest of Taichung, the national road 1 is crossed for the third time and then the national road 3 runs a little further inland through mountainous terrain and wide valleys.

South of Taichung, the national road 6, which runs towards Puli , is crossed. The road crosses a series of river beds with large rocks in this area. Then smaller towns like Chiayi follow along the route . Here, too, the road has 2 × 3 lanes throughout. The highway then runs in the east of the urban area of Tainan . Then you cross National Road 8 , a short east-west highway in north Tainan. In the area around the northern part of Kaohsiung City , the highway runs through the suburbs of the core city and then turns in arcs to the southeast. Then the national road 10 is crossed. The last section of the motorway runs through a flat agricultural area with many small towns. The highway ends south of Kaohsiung in Linbian Township.

history

Soon after National Highway 1 , Taiwan's first expressway, opened in 1978, it was congested as the majority of people in Taiwan live near it. In the mid-1980s it became clear that a second motorway was needed. In 1987 it was decided to build it and shortly afterwards the construction of National Road 3 would begin. The first section, the line between Keelung and Taipei, opened in 1993. In 1996 and 1997, the Taipei Bypass opened and most sections of National Road 3 were opened to traffic. Between 2000 and 2004 the remaining parts of the street were opened.

Opening dates of the motorway

from	to	length	date
Expressway 64	Motorway (national road) 1	65 km	August 28, 1993
Motorway (national road) 1	Xiangshan	9 km	February 14, 1996
Motorway (national road) 1	Taipei	10 km	March 21, 1996
Taipei	Expressway 64	15 km	August 24, 1997
Motorway (national road) 8	Jiurou	45 km	October 10, 1998
Shanhua	Motorway (national road) 8	6 km	December 30, 1999
Expressway 2	Motorway (national road) 1	10 km	January 31, 2000
Zhushan	Shanhua	97 km	January 27, 2001
Xiangshan	Miaoli	21 km	December 27, 2001
Miaoli	Tongxiao	14 km	May 4, 2002
Caotun	Zhushan	26 km	June 7, 2002
Motorway (national road) 4	Longjing	13 km	October 11, 2002
Tongxiao	Motorway (national road) 4	25 km	January 17, 2003
Expressway 74	Caotun	15 km	January 17, 2003
Jiurou	Linluo	16 km	September 30, 2003
Linluo	Linbian	23 km	January 10, 2004
Longjing	Expressway 74	20 km	January 11, 2004

Traffic volume

In 2009, around 44,000 vehicles were daily at Keelung on the highway, which climbs towards Taipei to a high of 185,000 vehicles. The middle part is loaded with 70,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day. In the southernmost part there are only 40,000 vehicles per day.

Expansion of the roadways

from	to	length	Lanes
Keelung	Expressway 64	36 km	2x3
Expressway 64	Freeway 2	18 km	2x4
Freeway 2	Freeway 10	329 km	2x3
Freeway 10	Linbian	48 km	2x2

National roads	NH 1 • NH 1A • NH 2 • NH 2A • NH 3 • NH 3A • NH 4 • NH 5 • NH 6 • NH 7 • NH 8 • NH 10
Provincial roads	PH 1 • PH 1a • PH 1b • PH 1c • PH 1d • PH 1e • PH 1f • PH 2 • PH 2a • PH 2b • PH 2c • PH 2d • PH 2e • PH 2f • PH 2g • PH 3 • PH 3a • PH 3b • PH 3c • PH 4 • PH 5 • PH 5a • PH 5b • PH 6 • PH 7 • PH 7a • PH 7b • PH 7c • PH 8 • PH 8a • PH 9 • PH 9a • PH 9b • PH 9c • PH 10 • PH 10b • PH 11 • PH 11a • PH 11b • PH 11c • PH 12 • PH 13 • PH 13a • PH 14 • PH 14a • PH 14b • PH 14c • PH 14d • PH 15 • PH 15a • PH 16 • PH 17 • PH 17a • PH 17b • PH 18 • PH 19 • PH 19a • PH 20 • PH 20a • PH 20b • PH 21 • PH 21a • PH 22 • PH 23 • PH 24 • PH 25 • PH 26 • PH 27 • PH 27a • PH 28 • PH 29 • PH 30 • PH 31 • PH 37 • PH 39 • PH 61 • PH 61a • PH 61b • PH 62 • PH 62a • PH 63 • PH 63a • PH 64 • PH 65 • PH 66 • PH 68 • PH 68a • PH 72 • PH 74 • PH 74a • PH 76 • PH 78 • PH 82 • PH 84 • PH 86 • PH 88