Kumho Construction Completes Hwaseong~Gwangju Expressway Opening... Annual Logistics Cost Reduction of 96 Billion KRW

Panorama of Hwaseong~Gwangju Expressway. (Photo by Kumho Construction)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Taemin] The Hwaseong~Gwangju Expressway, constructed with Kumho Construction as the lead contractor, was fully opened on the 21st.

According to Kumho Construction on the 22nd, the 'Hwaseong~Gwangju Expressway' is a 31.2 km long, four-lane dual carriageway toll expressway connecting Banggyo-dong in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, to Jinwoo-ri in Docheok-myeon, Gwangju City. The total project cost was 1.4975 trillion KRW, and it opened five years after construction began in March 2017.

This project is a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) private investment project where the government supports some costs such as land compensation, and the remainder is borne by the private sector. Hwaseong Gwangju Expressway Co., Ltd. acted as the project implementer. After completion, the expressway will be donated to the state and operated for 30 years.

With the opening of the Hwaseong~Gwangju Expressway, traffic flow in the southern metropolitan area is expected to improve significantly. The travel distance between Hwaseong City and Gwangju City, connected by the shortest route, is reduced from the previous 62 km to 37 km, shortening the distance by 25 km, and travel time is cut from 65 minutes to 33 minutes, a reduction of 32 minutes.

By connecting the Seohaean and Pyeongtaek~Siheung Expressways, which have heavy logistics traffic, to major expressways such as the Gyeongbu and Jungbu Expressways, it is expected to save about 96 billion KRW annually. With significantly reduced vehicle travel distance and time, an annual reduction of 4,300 tons of carbon dioxide emissions is anticipated.

A Kumho Construction official stated, “We will continue to actively participate in various private investment projects and play a key role in establishing national social infrastructure.”

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