Approval of 4 Preliminary Feasibility Studies Including Seopyeongtaek~Ansan West Coast Expressway Expansion Project

Ministry of Economy and Finance Holds 7th Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee Meeting

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced on the 26th that it has approved agenda items related to four preliminary feasibility study projects, including the West Coast Expressway expansion project worth over 1 trillion won.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Ando Geol, the 2nd Vice Minister, held the '7th Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee' meeting in the morning and reviewed and approved the preliminary feasibility study results of four projects whose investigations were completed this month. The approved agenda items include the 'Expressway No. 15 (Seopyeongtaek~Ansan) Expansion,' 'Green Smart School,' 'Port Automation Testbed (Gwangyang Port),' and 'Seafood Food Industry Cluster' projects.

First, it became possible to invest 1.02 trillion won by 2030 in the West Coast Expressway expansion project. The 34 km section from Seopyeongtaek to Ansan, a chronically congested area, will be widened from the current 6-8 lanes to 10 lanes. This is expected to partially alleviate traffic congestion in SongSan Green City, with a floating population of about 150,000, and Godeok New Town, with about 140,000 residents.

The agenda for the 'Green Smart School' project, which involves remodeling school facilities that have been aging for over 40 years, was also approved on the same day. A total of 11.9068 trillion won will be invested from next year until 2027. The 'Testbed' project, which automates the logistics process at Gwangyang Port, will receive 691.5 billion won by 2030, and the 'Cluster' project to revitalize the Mokpo seafood food export complex and Busan seafood food processing business will receive 81.3 billion won by 2025.

Vice Minister Ahn emphasized, "Since projects like the Green Smart School and Port Automation Testbed are pilot projects reflected in the (Korean) New Deal investment plan, it is necessary to create successful models and spread them nationwide."

On the same day, the committee also approved the appropriateness review results for four project plans: 'Youth Monthly Rent Support,' 'Dodam~Yeongcheon Double-track Railway,' 'Ipjang~Jincheon Road Construction,' and 'Renewable Energy Digital Twin & Eco-friendly Transportation Demonstration Research Infrastructure Construction.' The Youth Monthly Rent Support project was finalized to invest 299.7 billion won targeting 150,000 people from next year through 2024. The Dodam~Yeongcheon Double-track Railway project will receive 4.1984 trillion won by 2023, and the Renewable Energy Digital Twin & Eco-friendly Transportation Demonstration Research Infrastructure Construction project will receive 170.1 billion won by 2025.

However, the Ipjang~Jincheon Road project will review a plan to invest 129.7 billion won by 2027, considering the prevention of cultural heritage damage around the route and residents' complaints. The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained, "Based on the appropriateness review results of these four projects, we plan to proceed with negotiations and changes to the total project costs before advancing the projects."

Additionally, the committee approved improvement measures for the preliminary feasibility study method for local medical center project groups. The main point is the establishment of a 'special evaluation item' that includes the effects of large-scale infectious disease response. The committee recommended the prompt advancement of local medical center preliminary feasibility studies, considering the COVID-19 quarantine situation.

Vice Minister Ahn said, "Considering that recent preliminary feasibility study target projects have expanded from social overhead capital (SOC) to health, welfare, education, and that policy objectives have diversified, we will strive to sufficiently reflect the uniqueness of individual projects during the investigation process to increase the acceptance of project executing agencies."

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