In 1886, when Taiwan Provincial Governor Liu Mingchuan was overseeing the building of the railway from Taipei to Keelung, plans were made for a "convenient road from Tanshui to Ilan," but the funding needed for such a massive engineering project would never be allocated.
光緒十一年台灣巡撫劉銘傳在鑿闢台北到基隆間的鐵路時，原有「淡蘭擬闢便道」的計畫，但因工程浩大，經費無著而未能實現。