The people of Ilan, who are eagerly awaiting the completion of the Taipei-Ilan Expressway, have greeted the completion of drilling with great enthusiasm. When Premier Yu Shyi-kun's motorcade emerged from the Hsuehshan Tunnel and reached Pinglin, local people hailed him with shouts of "our dream has come true" and declared its significance as an engine of economic development.
北宜高貫通，宜蘭人士十分肯定，在游揆車隊穿越雪山隧道到達坪林後，民眾大喊「夢想成真」，也點出了北宜高促進東部地區經濟發展的意義。