Gyeongbuk Province Accelerates Expansion of Comprehensive Road Infrastructure

Accelerating Reflection of New Government's National Tasks and Securing Next Year's Road Sector National Budget

Speeding Up with a Total Investment of 1.4153 Trillion KRW in Road Sector SOC Projects This Year

2023 Gyeongsangbuk-do Road Sector Project Plan Location Map.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Gyeongsangbuk-do is accelerating the expansion of road infrastructure to support regional economic revitalization and balanced regional development.

Gyeongbuk Province plans to invest a total of 1.4153 trillion KRW in 81 districts this year to expand a well-connected road network that safely and quickly links any area in the region, aiming to start new projects early and complete ongoing ones.

Looking at the detailed plan, 1.3006 trillion KRW will be invested in 2 districts for highway construction (426.5 billion KRW), 19 districts for national road construction (646.3 billion KRW), 5 districts for national road bypass construction (132 billion KRW), 20 billion KRW for industrial complex access roads, and 13 districts for national-supported local road construction (93.8 billion KRW).

Additionally, 114.7 billion KRW will be invested in 41 districts of local roads and maintenance to expand transportation networks between cities and counties, and thorough efforts will be made to improve traffic conditions dramatically by opening new roads, widening and maintaining aging roads.

Among these, projects scheduled for completion this year include 7 districts: 5 national road districts such as Hangiri~Gyori and Samjahyeon Tunnel, the Ulleungdo Island Loop Road 2 national-supported local road, and the Anpyeong~Uiseong local road construction project.

Newly initiated projects will cover 17 districts, including 2 national road districts such as Seongju Sennan~Daegu Dasa and Gyeongju Oedong Nokdong~Munsan, which will enter the design phase.

In particular, among the 9 newly initiated local road districts, 5 projects will be ordered using a regional restriction and main contractor joint contract method to expand participation opportunities for local specialized construction companies. The joint contract method is a joint contract where the main contractor among the members of the joint supply body comprehensively plans, manages, and coordinates contract execution.

This reflects the strong will of Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province to revitalize the construction industry, which has been depressed due to COVID-19, by actively responding to the construction industry's requests.

First, on the 9th, ahead of the presidential election and the new government inauguration in May, administrative efforts will focus on reflecting key projects for expanding the well-connected road network in the national agenda.

Since last year, Gyeongbuk Province has been making every effort to ensure that essential projects, such as the Yeongilman cross-section highway and integrated new airport-linked transportation network, which were insufficiently promoted to revitalize the tourism and industrial sectors in the transportation-deficient Gyeongbuk region, are included in the regional pledges of presidential candidates.

They also plan to select urgent issues that must be included and deliver them to the transition committee, political parties, and government officials immediately after the presidential election.

From March to August, focused visits to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Economy and Finance will be made to prioritize the inclusion of key projects in the government budget proposal as much as possible.

The scale of the national support budget request for the road sector in 2023 is expected to be 1.0375 trillion KRW for 55 districts in total.

Looking at the major requested projects, highways cover 10 districts with 257.3 billion KRW, including ongoing projects such as the Pohang~Yeongdeok highway (204.3 billion KRW) and Yeongilman cross-section highway (45 billion KRW), and projects like the Jungang Expressway Upnae JC~Gunwi JC expansion (1 billion KRW), Bukgumi IC~Gunwi JC (1 billion KRW), and Seongju~Daegu highway.

National road projects cover 24 districts with 767.3 billion KRW, including 4 completed projects such as the Andong~Yeongdeok national road alignment improvement project (15.3 billion KRW), 10 ongoing projects such as the Pohang~Andong national road expansion project (130 billion KRW) and Maejun~Geoncheon national road improvement (10 billion KRW), and 10 new projects such as the Seongju Sennan~Daegu Dasa national road expansion (5.7 billion KRW).

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province said, “I expect that the process of establishing the new government's national administration direction will proceed rapidly centered on the transition committee and ruling party during the two months from the presidential election to the inauguration of the next president. Taking this opportunity, we will work to reflect road sector pending projects in the national agenda and cooperate with local lawmakers to secure the national budget for 2023 when the next government's policies are fully implemented.”

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