Seoul Cheonho-daero 'Central Bus-Only Lane' Fully Connected After 24 Years ... Opening Early Morning on the 11th

Cheonho Underpass Flattening Project Completed... "Seoul~Hanam Bus Route Completed Without Interruption"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The central bus-only lanes (BRT) in the Cheonho-dong area of Seoul have been fully connected, completing an approximately 21 km east-west bus corridor linking Seoul and Hanam.

Seoul City announced on the 6th that the Cheonho-daero BRT will be fully opened at 4 a.m. on the 11th. With the completion of the Cheonho Underpass flattening construction, the 1.2 km section from the south end of Cheonho Bridge to Gangdong Station, which remained an unconnected BRT segment, has been linked, completing the entire 15.8 km stretch of Cheonho-daero.

Seoul City expects that traffic congestion and pedestrian inconvenience around Cheonho Intersection will be significantly alleviated through the flattening of the Cheonho Underpass, BRT opening, establishment of central lane bus stops, installation of roadside bus stops, and crosswalks.

With the establishment of central bus stops, the stopping locations of route buses passing near Cheonho Station will be changed. Most buses will stop at the central stops, but some routes turning right from Gangdong-gu Office towards Gangdong Station will stop at roadside stops to minimize traffic congestion caused by lane changes.

A roadside bus stop will also be newly installed in front of Exit 1 of Cheonho Station (in front of Cheonho Stationery Street). Additionally, to reduce the inconvenience caused by general vehicles having to take a detour due to the BRT installation, the U-turn lanes operating at Cheonho Intersection will be maintained in both directions.

Previously, in February 1996, Seoul City introduced the central bus-only lane for the first time in Korea on a 4.5 km stretch from Sindap Station Intersection on Cheonho-daero to Achasan Station Intersection. At that time, having a dedicated lane in the center of the road exclusively for buses was unfamiliar and novel.

Since then, due to bottleneck sections such as Achasan Station to Gwangnaru Station and the Cheonho Underpass (4 lanes each way), the BRT could not be connected, but with road expansion and underpass flattening, the previously disconnected BRT could be installed.

With this opening, a BRT network of approximately 21 km will be completed from Hanam BRT Transfer Center in Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province, to Sinseoldong Five-way Intersection in Seoul.

As of this year, Seoul City operates BRT on 13 road axes totaling 124.2 km, including Jongno BRT.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Urban Transportation at Seoul City, expressed expectations that "With the completion of the BRT on Cheonho-daero, which serves as the main public transportation axis in eastern Seoul, the convenience for citizens using buses will be greatly improved."

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