For Safe Driving and Traffic Control

Korea Expressway Corp. to invest 2.2 tln won to build new highways and expand existing ones

Korea Expressway Corp. will invest 2.208 trillion won this year to build new highways and expansion of existing highways across the country, the state-run company said recently.
New highways to be built extend for 699 km divided into 11 sections at an investment of 1.421 trillion won and highways to be expanded extend for 395 km divided into eight sections with a total investment of 599.3 billion won.
The new highways extending for 110 km will include a circular highway around Busan totaling 47.9 km in length divided into 10 sectors and to be launched in November, this year.
Those to be expanded include the highway linking Eonyang and Youngchon extending for 54.8 km divided into six sections to be launched in December, this year. the Highway between Pankyo and Yangjae extending for 7.5 km outside Seoul will also be expanded with the project to be launched in June.
The new highways that have been expanded extending for 134 km will open for traffic this year including the Namwon-Gwangyang Highway with a total length of 52.2 km which is to be completed in April. The highways with expansion work completed include the Jinju-Masan Highway extending for 50 km to be opened in December. The Shingal and Hobub highway will also have its expansion finished in September extending for 31.5 km.
KEC plans to plough 1.217 trillion won or 60 percent of the budget in the first half this year to help invigorate regional economies. The company will have its team to check the early implementation of the budget by visiting each highway construction sites around the country. The construction of highways near large cities is to alleviate traffic jams around the cities by building byways and cross ways to ease the heavy traffic on main highways.
In order to traffic jams, the exclusive lanes for buses will be readjusted to maximize the traffic control management. For example, those bus lanes will be eased from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. on public holidays and set the control hours on weekends and weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
KEC also is considering to boost the speed limits on highways in order to change the traffic flows centering on the expressways where the speed limits have been set at 110 km/h with less traffic accidents.
KEC also plans to reduce the traffic accident rates by 50 percent to 0.0716/km in 2012 from 0.0830/km in 2011 and 0.1431/km in 2007. The company will also improve the rest areas facilities so that drivers on highways can take more rest.
President Lieu Chullho in his statement on KEC’s homepage says Korea Expressway Corporation was established on February 15, 1969 to construct and manage expressways throughout the nation.
KEC began building expressways at the end of the 1960s, when the nation’s economic conditions were so unfavorable that its per capita income was less than USD 200. These expressways which we were only able to build after overcoming many serious adversities, became the basis for Korea’s dramatic economic growth, called “the Miracle of the Han River.”
Koreans can boast one of the world’s top ten economies because of the successful completion of such monumental public works as the Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) expressway. It is not too much to say that these landmark events have been the primary impetus for the entire Korean economy until today.
The company plans to increase the length of its expressways to 6,160 km by 2020. When this plan becomes a reality, people will be able to reach an expressway anywhere in the country within thirty minutes.
The company is now using IT technologies to develop truly “intelligent highways”. Just around the corner is the development of “smart highways” that will seamlessly integrate people, automobiles, and roads.
Korea Expressway Corporation also plans to take advantage of its experience, technological acumen, and capabilities in road construction and management to explore overseas markets.
This brochure outlines the company’s achievements over the past forty-plus years. It is also meant to demonstrate its commitment to becoming a representative Korean public enterprise and a world-class roads services company. nw

President Lieu Chullho of Korea Expressway Corp. gives a briefing on his corporation’s operation to the parliament.