Underpass motorway to be built at Hwaseong-Yangjae section

The 32.3-kilometer section between Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province and Yangjae in Seoul, where traffic is constantly delayed throughout the year on Gyeongbu Expressway, will be expanded to have extra lanes by constructing an underpass motorway. It is the first time that Gyeongbu Expressway’s traffic capacity is set to be expanded by constructing a tunnel under the existing highway.

According to the Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry on Friday, it has finalized the second expressway construction plan at a meeting of road policy review committee for the new underpass motorway. An expressway construction plan is a legally binding plan that is fixed every five years in accordance with the Roadway Act.

The 31.5-kilometer section between Toigyewon and Pangyo in Gyeonggi Province on the First Greater Seoul Region Beltway and the 19.3-kilometer section between Namcheongla in Incheon and Shinwol in Seoul on the Gyeongin Expressway will also be expanded by adding underpass highways to help ease traffic jam there. Also, new expressways will be constructed to link Yeongwol and Samcheok in Gangwon Province, Yeongdong and Jincheon in North Chungcheong Province, and Seongju and Daegu in North Gyeongsang Province. The government plans to invest a total of 55 trillion won (about 45 billion U.S. dollars) to construct 37 new expressways based on the plan. The government plans to conduct feasibility studies over the next three to four years before breaking ground to build new roads starting with projects with higher economic viability in 2025.


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