Nowon-gu Adds 36 Speed Enforcement Cameras to Elementary School Routes This Year

Investment of 200 Million Won for Maintenance of Safety Signs and Facilities, Installation of Color Blocks in Front of 3 Elementary Schools... Survey and Improvement Measures for Elementary School Commute Routes

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is accelerating the establishment of a traffic environment to protect children, including the installation of speed enforcement cameras, customized maintenance of school zones, and a survey on children's commuting routes.

First, speed enforcement cameras will be installed within elementary school protection zones. Compared to the 42 elementary schools, the highest number in Seoul, the number of speed enforcement cameras in school zones, which remained at a total of 14 locations until last year, will be completed at 28 locations including Noil Elementary School by the first half of this year.

An additional eight cameras will be installed in high-risk accident areas such as the densely packed academy district in Junggye-dong.

At 29 crosswalks with traffic lights, multifunctional enforcement cameras that monitor both signal and speed violations will be installed, and speed cameras will be installed at seven locations without traffic lights to raise drivers' awareness.

Efforts will also be strengthened for the “customized designation and maintenance of school zones,” which has been continuously promoted since 2018. Based on the results of a full survey of school zones, opinions from daycare centers, kindergartens, and the Green Mothers’ Association, as well as on-site investigations, traffic facilities are being reorganized, repaired, and reinforced annually.

Up to last year, a total of 1.2 billion KRW was invested in repainting lanes (32,678m), maintaining crosswalks and speed bumps (3,890㎡), and installing anti-slip pavement (10,092㎡), as well as installing new safety signage facilities such as LED signs and safety fences (73 units), replacing (28 units), and removing (23 units).

This year, 200 million KRW from the district budget will be invested to maintain design floor pavement (3,000㎡), road markings (20,000㎡), and 50 safety signs after conducting demand surveys including on-site visits at 121 school zones within the district.

Road color block paving will also be carried out. With its bright and unique design that functions to alert drivers, it has received strong support from residents. Following four schools last year, paving will be conducted this year at three schools: Noil Elementary School (Sanggye 1-dong), Cheongwon Elementary School (Sanggye 9-dong), and Yeonji Elementary School (Wolgye 3-dong).

Meanwhile, on the 26th of last month, the district signed a memorandum of understanding with the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation and Gachon University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation to establish more scientific and systematic safety measures for school commuting routes.

According to the agreement, Gachon University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation will evaluate the safety of elementary school commuting routes in the district from environmental, facility, operational management, and institutional enforcement perspectives and conduct research to identify problems and improvements. The Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation will promote safety based on the research results, and the district will carry out institutional improvements.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “Unlike adults, children’s physical and cognitive functions are immature, so to protect them safely from traffic accidents, not only awareness improvement but also systematic environmental construction is important,” and added, “We will continue to promote facility improvements for children’s pedestrian safety.”

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