U-Turn Allowed at Gangdong Seongsim Hospital Intersection on Cheonho-daero, Gangdong-gu

Persistent Efforts by Gangdong-gu and Local District Council Members Lead to Approval of Traffic Safety Facilities by Seoul Police in April, Construction Completed on May 26... Improved Accessibility to Large Residential and Office Complexes on the North Side of Cheonho-daero

U-turn Zone in Front of Gangdong Seongsim Hospital

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) announced that from the 26th, U-turns toward the city center will be allowed at the intersection near Gangdong Seongsim Hospital on Cheonho-daero.

Cheonho-daero has a central bus-only lane (BRT) operating over a 21.2 km section from Hanam City (Hanam BRT Transfer Center) to Seoul city center (Sinseol-dong Five-way Intersection), and Seoul strictly restricts U-turns within the central bus-only lane sections.

Accordingly, U-turns were banned at the Gangdong Seongsim Hospital intersection since March 2011 when the central bus-only lane system was implemented.

However, the north side street of Gangdong Station on Cheonho-daero is a transit-oriented high-density mixed-use development area with large-scale residential complexes and office facilities concentrated, causing continuous inconvenience to residents due to increased detour distances and worsening traffic congestion on detour roads caused by the U-turn ban.

Since 2016, the district office has continuously requested Seoul City to allow U-turns at the Gangdong Seongsim Hospital intersection. After the completion of the Cheonho Underpass flattening and central bus-only lane connection construction in September 2020, active consultations were held with local district council members, the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and Seoul City, leading to the approval of U-turns.

Subsequently, after passing the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s traffic safety facility review at the end of April 2021, the U-turn became possible simultaneously with the completion of construction on May 26 as part of the ‘2021 Seoul Central Bus-Only Lane Flow Improvement’ project.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, stated, “Allowing U-turns in front of Gangdong Seongsim Hospital intersection will improve residents’ accessibility, who previously had to detour over 400 meters unnecessarily, and is expected to alleviate traffic congestion on surrounding roads such as Seongan-ro. We will continue to pay attention to residents’ traffic inconveniences and strive to actively improve them.”

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