Gwangju Hanam~Jangseong Samgye Expressway Passes Final Feasibility Study by Ministry of Economy and Finance

Gwangsan Jangsu Intersection to Jangseong Sangmu Sports Park 15.4km Section 4-Lane Expansion Project

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 30th that the new national budget project, the Gwangju Hanam~Jangseong Samgye Metropolitan Road Project, has finally passed the preliminary feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Accordingly, Gwangju City plans to start the basic and detailed design as early as the first half of next year after consultations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee, and complete the road expansion by 2026.

In the future, the project will be implemented separately by administrative districts of Gwangju City and Jeollanam-do Province.

The project cost is estimated to be a total of 116.2 billion KRW for road expansion across all sections in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do based on the results of this preliminary feasibility study, and will be finalized according to the results of the basic and detailed design.

With the project passing the preliminary feasibility study after being stalled for some time, the 2 billion KRW of national funds secured for next year is expected to be smoothly executed without being unused.

This project is based on the Special Act on Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Management, under which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport supports metropolitan road projects that span two local governments within the five metropolitan areas?Seoul Capital Area, Busan·Ulsan Area, Daegu Area, Daejeon Area, and Gwangju Area?by providing 50% of the total project cost as national funds within the scope of national treasury support standards for metropolitan road projects, aiming to solve transportation issues on a metropolitan scale.

Gwangju City and Jeollanam-do Province will expand the existing 2-lane road to 4 lanes along Local Road No. 734 from Jangsu Intersection in Jangsu-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, passing Gobong-ro and Imgok, to Jangseong Sangmu Peace Park in front of Suyang Reservoir in Jangseong County, covering 15.4 km (8 km in Gwangju, 7.4 km in Jeollanam-do). Sections with poor alignment such as sharp curves will be improved.

The project was first included as a nationally subsidized metropolitan road project in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s 1st Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Implementation Plan in 2007, underwent investment review by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2009, and a preliminary feasibility study by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, but was not pursued due to lack of economic feasibility. Subsequently, it repeatedly failed to pass the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s investment reviews.

However, with the establishment of new industrial complexes such as the Advanced 3 District AI Industrial Complex, Pyeongdong 3rd Industrial Complex, Bitgreen National Industrial Complex, Nam-gu Energy Valley, and Jangseong Sangmu Peace Park, reflecting development plans, traffic demand has steadily increased, and local residents’ desire for road expansion has grown, highlighting the need to promote the project once again.

Accordingly, the city refined the project plan and carefully analyzed and discovered policy effects through its own feasibility analysis conducted early last year. As a result of reviving the project dormant for 10 years since the 2009 preliminary feasibility study failure, it passed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s investment review in May last year, was selected as a preliminary feasibility study target project by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in September, and recently received a favorable evaluation on policy effects to finally pass the preliminary feasibility study.

Once implemented, this project will expand the metropolitan road transportation network connecting Jinkok and Hanam Industrial Complex entrances in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, to Samgye-myeon, Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, which is expected to serve as an opportunity to promote regional balanced development and inject strong development momentum into the urban outskirts that have been relatively neglected in development.

Moreover, logistics vehicles from nearby Jinkok and Hanam Industrial Complexes, Bitgreen National Industrial Complex where Gwangju Global Motors is located, and Pyeongdong 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Industrial Complexes must pass through Yeonggwang IC on the Seohaean Expressway to access major export ports on the west coast such as Incheon. This project will secure the shortest route to Yeonggwang IC, thereby improving logistics traffic conditions and contributing to strengthening the industrial competitiveness of Gwangju and Jeollanam-do.

In addition, the expansion of the road will enlarge the living area, forming the foundation for a metropolitan living zone centered on the industrial complexes in the northwest area of Gwangju, and is expected to contribute to establishing a metropolitan transportation network system by inducing the creation of new public transportation routes such as buses.

Besides passing the preliminary feasibility study for the ‘Gwangju Hanam~Jangseong Samgye Metropolitan Road Project,’ Gwangju City has also confirmed the promotion of the ‘Advanced 3 District Industrial Complex Access Road Project,’ a fully national-funded project by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, with a project cost of 45.3 billion KRW to open an access road to the industrial complex in line with the occupancy timing of the AI cluster in the Advanced 3 District, securing 1.5 billion KRW in design costs in next year’s national budget.

Heo Ik-bae, Director of Transportation and Construction Bureau of Gwangju City, evaluated, “This project is a model case where a road project in a non-capital region with insufficient economic feasibility passed the preliminary feasibility study due to a favorable evaluation of policy effects,” adding, “It has become an opportunity to realize the long-standing desire of local residents for road expansion over the past 10 years and to broaden the path of coexistence between Gwangju and Jeollanam-do.”

Jeon Dong-ho, Director of Construction and Transportation Bureau of Jeollanam-do Province, also said, “Taking this joint metropolitan road project with Gwangju City as an opportunity, the city and province will organically cooperate on all road projects including highway construction, metropolitan road construction, and road management.”

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