On the Last Day of Seol Holiday, Traffic Congestion Begins from 8 to 9 AM

Highway Congestion on Lunar New Year's Day Gradually Eases as Evening Approaches

[Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] On the day of Seollal, the 1st, severe traffic congestion on major highways nationwide gradually eased as the evening approached. However, due to the return traffic continuing into the night, cars in some sections are still unable to travel at normal speeds.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 9:20 PM that day, the Seoul-bound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway were congested over a total distance of 46 km, including areas near Yangjae to Banpo and near Cheonan to Anseong Rest Area. Traffic toward Busan on the Gyeongbu Line was flowing smoothly.

The Seoul-bound lanes of the Seohaean Expressway were moving slowly over a total distance of 17 km, including near Dangjin to Seohae Bridge, and the Hanam-bound lanes of the Jungbu Expressway were crawling over a total distance of 17 km, including from the Gyeonggi Gwangju Junction to near Jungbu 1 Tunnel.

The Incheon-bound lanes of the Yeongdong Expressway were unable to maintain normal speeds over an 11 km section from near Deokpyeong to Yongin Rest Area.

At 10 PM, the estimated travel times by passenger car from major cities nationwide to the Seoul tollgate are 4 hours 30 minutes from Busan, 4 hours 10 minutes from Ulsan, 3 hours 50 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours 50 minutes from Gwangju, 2 hours 20 minutes from Daejeon, and 2 hours 40 minutes from Gangneung.

On the last day of the Seollal holiday, the 2nd, traffic heading toward hometowns is expected to flow relatively smoothly, but return traffic is anticipated to be more congested than usual weekends. A Korea Expressway Corporation official stated, "Return traffic congestion is expected to start around 8 to 9 AM, peak around 4 to 5 PM, and ease only around 10 to 11 PM the following day."

The Korea Expressway Corporation forecasted a total traffic volume of 4.28 million vehicles nationwide on the 2nd. It is expected that 330,000 vehicles will move from the metropolitan area to local regions, and 460,000 vehicles will travel from local regions to the metropolitan area.

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