‘Normal congestion’ Gangbyeonbuk-ro underground … The ground is a park

October 28, 2022
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◀ anchor ▶

Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Gyeongbu Expressway in Seoul are mostly severely congested.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced plans to downgrade these roads and create a green park above them.

It is intended to finance the construction cost by attracting private investment.

Reporter Lee Dong-kyung.

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‘Rio Park’ is the largest green space in the center of Madrid and a tourist attraction.

Just 15 years ago, it was a riverside road running through the city centre.

However, not only for aesthetic reasons, but also because the smoke was so bad that the health of the city was threatened, so the city of Madrid undertook a major construction project, replacing a 43km section of riverside road and transforming it into a park waterfront.

[엑토르 바베로 미구엘/마드리드 도로공사 상임이사]

“The volume of traffic has increased in some areas. However, traffic accidents and traffic jams have decreased. Therefore, it can be said that the convenience of citizens has improved.”

Gangbyeonbuk-ro, the biggest problem in Seoul traffic, and Gyeongbu Arterial Road between Yangjae and Hannam.

The maximum daily traffic is close to 250,000 vehicles, and the average speed is around 30 km/h.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon presented a plan to introduce changes in Rio Park to Seoul.

Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Gyeongbu Arterial Road in central Seoul are also being transformed into green spaces where people, water and trees harmonize just like here in Rio Park.

The plan is to make the section from the Gayangdaegyo Bridge on Gangbyeonbuk-ro to the Yeongdongdaegyo Bridge and the section from the Gyeongbu Hannam Expressway to Yangjae underground and create a green space on it.

It has the effect of not only solving the chronic urban traffic congestion, but also connecting the disconnected city center of Seoul with the Han River.

The goal is to start construction in 2025 at the earliest and complete it in 2032, but since it is a long-term project, issues of continuity and construction costs that will cost well over 2 trillion won are raised as obstacles.

Although the city of Seoul plans to attract private investment, there is a possibility that expensive tolls such as the Seobu Arterial Subway or the Umyunsan Tunnel, which cost only 2,500 won for one-way tolls, may arise.

This is Lee Dong-kyung from MBC News from Madrid.