Eunpyeong-gu Actively Maintains Baengnyeonsan-ro Area in Eungam-dong Through Proactive Administration

Published 09 Mar.2020 09:03(KST)

Improvement of Baengnyeonsan-ro in Eungam-dong Area with Irregular Mountainous Structure... Completed in a Form with High Resident Satisfaction after 10 Years of Continuous Consultation and Persuasion

After Baengnyeonsan-ro Renovation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Baekryeonsan-ro in the Eungam-dong area, which had structural issues due to its natural mountainous terrain, has successfully completed a road structure improvement project through active public-private cooperation and proactive administration by public officials.

This achievement contributed to the prevention of safety accidents caused by increased traffic volume.

Initially, despite strong opposition from residents, Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) completed the road structure improvement project after 10 years of continuous consultation and persuasion, during which residents themselves participated directly in the project and proposed alternatives through the negotiation process.

Baekryeonsan-ro in the Eungam-dong area was a terrain curved like a camel's back in a natural mountainous region. Moreover, with the revitalization of redevelopment and reconstruction in this area, the increasing traffic demand exposed risks of safety accidents, making improvement measures urgent.

According to statistics from the Eunpyeong-gu Western Police Station, while the average number of traffic accidents per 1 km of road in Eunpyeong-gu is 3.78 per year, Baekryeonsan-ro recorded 9.81 accidents, more than three times that of other areas, highlighting the urgent need for road service improvements in this region.

However, business tenants, in solidarity with local residents, continuously filed complaints to the Blue House, the National Civil Complaints Committee, members of the National Assembly, the Mayor of Seoul, the district mayor, and the district council, and launched a strong opposition campaign using local media, which effectively brought the project to a halt.

Nevertheless, Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) formed a dedicated task force team and did not give up on continuous persuasion through individual contact with opposing residents, despite their strong resistance and refusal to engage in dialogue.

They also began a comprehensive redesign from scratch from the complainants’ perspective by analyzing the vacancy rates of nearby stores, the movement routes of floating populations, and the conditions for population inflow related to traffic flow.

Additionally, related complaint agencies, experts, local assembly members, and residents participated together, visiting the site multiple times to repeatedly consider appropriate plans for road structure improvement and revitalization measures for local businesses.

As a result, various improvements and residents’ demands were actively reflected in the design, including adjusting the uphill slope plan (from 1.8m to 1.3m), installing new crosswalks to improve store accessibility for nearby residents, indirect lighting and art tile installation on stair sections, replacing street trees, low-noise road paving, removal of guardrails on sidewalks, and enhancing the usability of public open spaces.

The project was officially relaunched in July 2019 and completed in February 2020.

This project is evaluated as a model of resident cooperation and an excellent case of proactive administration through credible promotion and the pursuit of rational methods.

Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong-gu, stated, “Despite many conflicts with residents during the project implementation process, by involving residents directly in the design from the beginning and deriving improvement plans, the project was successfully completed with high resident satisfaction. The project also saved 700 million KRW in relocation costs for utility lines and received an excellence award in the conflict resolution case evaluation hosted by Seoul City, making it a model of resident cooperation and proactive administration.”