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The tunnel is bored through the Hsuehshan Range. The road connects the city of Taipei to the northeastern county of Yilan (Ilan),cutting down the journey time from two hours to just half an hour. It bypasses the rural district of Pinglin, which used to receive high traffic prior to the completion of the tunnel.
One of the key aims of constructing the tunnel was to connect the western coast of Taiwan, where 95% of the population lives, to the eastern coast of the island and in doing so tackle the unbalanced development on the island. It is constructed with one pilot tunnel and two main tunnels for eastbound and westbound traffic.
The total length is 12.942 km (8.042 mi), making the Hsuehshan Tunnel the second longest road tunnel in East Asia and the fifth longest road tunnel in the world. The tunnel opened in June 2006 to severe traffic jams.
