Yangjae-Giheung Section of Gyeongbu
Expressway to Be Expanded

Relieves the bottleneck of the Seoul Toll Office by widening its approach road to 42 lanes

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation will expand the Yangjae-Giheung section of Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway to 10 lanes by 2010.
In particular, in a bid to ease the bottleneck of the entry and exit roads of the Seoul Toll Office, the ministry will increase the number of car lanes from current 32 to 42, while Toll booths will rise from current 44 to 62. Six Hi-Pass booths - two exclusive and four mixed ones - will be set up by the end of this year to facilitate improved traffic flow.
A separate Busan-bound entrance road of the Yangjae Intersection will be built to prevent possible collisions from cars coming from the Yangjae Service Area.
Song Ki-seop, chief of the Road Policy Team at MOCT, said the ministry will expand the number of car lanes for Pangyo, Suwon and Giheung intersections, which slow down traffic flow during rush hours. The car lanes for Pangyo Intersection will rise from current 14 to 18, while those for Suwon Intersection will increase from 13 to 22. The figure for Giheung Intersection will surge from seven to 16. The Pangyo Intersection will be a multi-level crossing that will allow direct connection between Bundang, a satellite city south of Seoul, and the capital city.
If the expansion project is complete, the expanded expressway section will reduce the time for entering intersections and running on the expressway, thus saving an estimated 59 billion won per annum in operation and time costs.
The project will cost 577.4 billion won and creating jobs that equate to 26,000 man-days per annum. nw

Dignitaries, including MOCT Minister Choo Byung-jik, attend the ground-breaking ceremony for expanding the Yangjae-Giheung section of Gyeongbu Expressway on June 28.