Gyeongnam Province Secures Over 1.47 Trillion KRW in National Funds for Metropolitan Road Network Development

Location map of the 'Hamyang-Ulsan Expressway' promoted by Gyeongsangnam-do. [Image source=Gyeongsangnam-do]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] The secured national funds and other budgets for the construction of the metropolitan road network in Gyeongsangnam-do have surpassed 1.47 trillion KRW.

According to the province on the 14th, the 'Hamyang-Ulsan Expressway' construction project, which is underway to promote development in the underdeveloped northwestern region of Gyeongnam, has a total project cost of 6.3048 trillion KRW, a total length of 145 km, and four lanes (two lanes each way), and has been in progress since 2014.

The project is divided into four sections: Hamyang-Hapcheon, Hapcheon-Changnyeong, Changnyeong-Miryang, and Miryang-Ulsan. The 45.2 km Miryang-Ulsan section was opened in December last year, and the remaining three sections are scheduled for completion in 2024.

So far, 3.7 trillion KRW has been invested in construction, and the budget for next year’s project is expected to increase by 660 billion KRW from this year’s 440 billion KRW to a record high of 1.1 trillion KRW.

Additionally, the province has reflected 350 billion KRW of national funds for the construction of 15 national highway projects and 13 nationally supported local road projects.

As a result, it is expected to gain momentum in building the metropolitan road network for the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) Mega City construction.

Heo Dong-sik, Director of the Provincial Urban Transportation Bureau, said, "We cannot be complacent with this achievement in securing national funds. We will make every effort to build a road network that resolves regional imbalances by properly promoting major road projects within the province to complement the national trunk road network."

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