Seongdong-gu Begins Maintenance of 30 Utility Poles in Front of Elementary, Middle, and High Schools

Completed Full Survey of 1,620 Utility Poles Around 41 Elementary and Middle Schools, Actively Promoting Utility Pole Construction During Vacation Period

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, is inspecting the progress of the utility pole relocation and removal construction.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) began maintenance work on utility poles near Seongsu Technical High School on the 30th of last month, marking the start of creating safe walking routes for elementary, middle, and high school students this year.

The district plans to maintain 150 hazardous utility poles and defective overhead lines among 1,620 utility poles near 41 elementary, middle, and high schools in the area by 2023. Last month, a preliminary survey was completed on school routes needing maintenance, and 30 maintenance sites were selected for this year.

The project aims to organize utility poles that cause walking inconvenience or are aged and overloaded, as well as the tangled overhead electric and communication lines. With the prolonged Level 4 social distancing in the metropolitan area and the upcoming school vacation, construction will begin before the second semester starts to maximize the use of this period for the work.

In 2019, Seongdong-gu signed an MOU with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and KT to relocate utility poles causing walking inconvenience, the first such agreement nationwide. Up to last year, 60 utility poles have been relocated or removed.

Initially in 2019, maintenance was focused on eight inconvenient utility poles around four elementary schools, raising awareness of the problem of scattered poles near schools. The following year, maintenance standards expanded to all utility poles near schools, resulting in a total of 60 poles being maintained last year.

Notably, last year, nine utility poles on the narrow 114cm-wide walking route near Dongmyeong Elementary School were maintained, minimizing and integrating road signs and other sidewalk facilities, which received high praise from users.

This year, among the 22 target school sites, 15 are around elementary schools, actively creating safer walking routes for younger students.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, “Safety is our foremost responsibility, and especially school routes must be safe for children to walk on. We will continue to do our best to create a safe commuting environment without distinguishing between sidewalks and pedestrian paths.”

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