Seoul Outer Ring Expressway Changes to 'Capital Region's First Ring Expressway' After 29 Years

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The name of the Seoul Ring Expressway will disappear into history after 29 years.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 30th that the name of Expressway No. 100, "Seoul Ring Expressway," which has been used for 29 years since 1991, will be changed to "Capital Region 1st Circular Expressway" starting from the 1st of next month.

This change follows Gyeonggi Province's request for a name revision to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last June, after obtaining consent from local governments including Seoul and Incheon following the inauguration of Governor Lee Jae-myung. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport gave final approval for the road name change last June after a review by the Road Policy Deliberation Committee, one year later.

The renaming of the Seoul Ring Expressway began as Governor Lee promoted it as a major campaign project to correct the misconception that Gyeonggi Province is a peripheral or suburban area of Seoul.

To prevent confusion among road users due to the expressway name change and to provide safe road information, the province has cooperated with 21 road management organizations including Korea Expressway Corporation and city, county, and district offices to update all road signs displaying the old route name to the new route name and guide names.

Additionally, promotional videos have been broadcast at multi-use facilities such as G Bus TV, outdoor electronic billboards, express bus terminals, and KTX trains, while promotional messages have been displayed on expressway toll gates and Variable Message Signs (VMS). Furthermore, various online and offline media including banners, neighborhood newsletters, and internet portal news have been continuously used to inform the public about the expressway route name change.

Park Il-ha, Director of the Construction Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "Although the change to Capital Region 1st Circular Line is just a few characters, this change will bring about the beginning of true local autonomy development through respect and balance among local governments as well as win-win cooperation in the capital region. We expect Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon to play a triggering role in establishing the capital region as a new growth engine for the future of the Republic of Korea."

The Capital Region 1st Circular Line is a total 128 km, 8-lane expressway running both ways, passing through 20 basic local governments including 14 cities in Gyeonggi Province such as Seongnam, 3 districts in Seoul such as Songpa-gu, and 3 districts in Incheon such as Bupyeong-gu. Construction began in 1988 to alleviate traffic congestion in the first phase new towns of the capital region and was fully opened in 2007.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.