Five National Highways Including Sinan Marine Bridge to Open Sequentially from the 19th

Contributing to Safety Improvement and Regional Economic Revitalization

Location map of National Road No. 24 Sinan Jido-Imja National Road Construction Project.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Five national highways in the Yeongnam and Honam regions, including Sinan Jido-Imja, have completed construction and will open to users starting on the 19th.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 16th that starting with the opening of the 4.99km Sinan Jido-Imja national highway on the 19th, the 1.82km Sinan Chupo-Amtae national highway and the 2.0km Gunwi Gono-Ubo national highway will open on the 29th, followed by the 6.32km Ulju Ungsang-Mugeo national highway on the 30th. Additionally, on the 1st of next month, the 1.76km Miryang Samrangjin-Mijeon national highway will open.

First, the newly constructed 2-lane national highway (4.99km) No. 24 connecting Sinan-gun Jido-eup and two islands (Sudo and Imjado) via a sea bridge will open at 4 PM on the 19th. The total project cost was 177.6 billion KRW, with construction lasting about 7 years and 6 months. With this opening, it will be possible to drive from Sinan-gun Jido-eup to Imjado, reducing travel time by over 55 minutes (from 60 minutes to 5 minutes). This will improve road usage convenience for island residents and is expected to help revitalize the local economy by creating a marine tourism belt in the southwestern region of Jeollanam-do.

The newly constructed 2-lane national highway (1.82km) No. 2 connecting Amtaedo and Chupodo in Amtae-myeon, Sinan-gun via a sea bridge will open at 2 PM on the 29th. The total project cost was 35.5 billion KRW, with about 5 years of construction. This opening will allow passage between Chupodo and Amtaedo, which was previously difficult during high tide, at any time. It is expected to contribute to the activation of Sinan’s marine tourism industry in connection with the Cheonsa Bridge, which opened in April 2019.

The Gono-Ubo national highway, improving the road alignment of 1.2km in Hwasuri, Samgukyusa-myeon, Gunwi-gun and 0.8km in Ihwari, Ubo-myeon, will open at 9 AM on the 29th. The total project cost was 15.4 billion KRW, with about 4 years of construction. The newly opened road upgrades the poor alignment and narrow 2-lane facilities of National Highway No. 28, enhancing traffic convenience for local residents and securing traffic safety for vehicles and pedestrians, which is expected to greatly contribute to preventing traffic accidents.

The newly constructed 4-lane 6.32km national highway No. 7 connecting Ungsang and Mugeo, from Daebok-ri, Ungchon-myeon to Munjuk-ri, Cheongnyang-eup, Ulju-gun, will open at 5 PM on the 30th. The total project cost was 140.2 billion KRW, with about 8 years of construction. This 4-lane automobile-only road bypasses the frequently congested existing national highway and connects with the 7km section (Ungsang-Mugeo 1 section) between Yongdang-dong, Yangsan City and Ungchon-myeon, Ulju-gun, which opened in October last year, and the 7.22km section (Busan city boundary-Ungsang section) opened in April 2019. Travel time has been reduced by 30 minutes (from 55 minutes to 25 minutes) and travel distance shortened by 3.4km (from 31.4km to 28.0km), improving convenience and safety for road users.

The 1.76km existing 2-lane section in Mijeon-ri, Samrangjin-eup, Miryang City, on National Highway No. 58, has been expanded to 4 lanes and will open at 4 PM on April 1st. The total project cost was 15.2 billion KRW, with about 4 years of construction. This road expansion from Mijeon Industrial Complex to Samrangjin IC will alleviate traffic congestion and improve accessibility to the industrial complex, contributing to balanced regional development.

Juhyeon Jong, Director of the Road Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We thank the local residents and road users who have endured inconveniences, and we hope that this national highway opening will help revitalize the local economy, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19, and assist in returning to a hopeful daily life."

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