Seoul City Raises Speed Limits to 60km/h on 20 Sections Including Hannam Bridge, Wonhyo Bridge, and Mapo Bridge

Supplementing 'Safe Speed 5030' Uniformly Applied Across Seoul Reflecting Citizen Demands, to Be Operated Flexibly
Road Marking and Other Traffic Safety Facility Installation from Late March to Mid-April... Immediate Application Upon Completion

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will raise the speed limit to 60 km/h on 20 sections, including Han River bridges, reflecting citizens' demands, while uniformly applying the ‘Safe Speed 5030’ policy that sets the speed limit to a maximum of 50 km/h on major roads throughout Seoul.

On the 27th, Seoul announced that after consultation with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, it will raise the existing speed limit from 50 km/h to 60 km/h on 20 sections, including Han River bridges, where pedestrian traffic is low and vehicle flow is relatively smooth. These sections either lack sidewalks making pedestrian access difficult, have low pedestrian density which lowers the risk of safety accidents even with increased speed, or have relatively smooth vehicle flow necessitating a speed increase.

Installation work for traffic safety facilities such as traffic safety signs and road surface markings will begin at the end of March and be completed by mid-April. The speed limit increase will be applied immediately to sections where the work is finished. The 20 sections include 17 Han River bridge sections within the Seoul city boundary such as Hannam Bridge, Wonhyo Bridge, and Mapo Bridge, and 3 general road sections including Heolleung-ro from Naegok IC to Wirye Tunnel entrance, Dorimcheon Overpass, and Boramae Overpass. However, among the Han River bridges, the Cheongdam Bridge (a car-only road with a speed limit of 80 km/h), and bridges with speed limits of 40 km/h or less such as Jamsu Bridge, Gwangjin Bridge, and Jamsil Railroad Bridge are excluded from the speed limit adjustment and will maintain their existing speed limits.

Earlier, when Seoul surveyed citizens’ opinions on ‘Safe Speed 5030’ in October last year, about 70% of both general citizens and drivers agreed with the policy implementation, but 90% of citizens expressed the need for speed adjustments on some sections. Reflecting these demands, the city requested the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to review changes to speed limits on certain sections, and on February 15, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Traffic Safety Facility Review Committee approved the proposal to raise speed limits.

Seoul plans to maintain the basic direction of ‘Safe Speed 5030’ to ensure pedestrian safety, but will continue to identify additional sections with no or sparse pedestrian traffic and low risk of traffic accidents in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and related organizations to raise speed limits and alleviate citizen inconvenience.

Baek Ho, Director of Urban Transportation at Seoul City, said, “Since the uniform application of ‘Safe Speed 5030’ across Seoul began in December 2020, there have been many citizen requests to raise speed limits on some road sections. We hope that this speed limit increase on Han River bridges and other sections will improve traffic flow and enhance citizen convenience.” Kim Hak-bae, Chairman of the Seoul Autonomous Police Committee, said, “Through close communication and cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, we will continue to make reasonable improvements to sections requiring flexible operation of Safe Speed 5030 and strive to create a safe and convenient traffic environment.”

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