'20 Years Since Opening' Incheon Munhak Tunnel, Toll-Free from April 1

Incheon Munhak Tunnel Photo by Incheon City

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The Munhak Tunnel in Incheon will be operated as a toll-free road starting April 1.

Incheon City announced on the 28th that the Munhak Tunnel, which opened on April 1, 2002, will end its 20 years of toll operation under an agreement between the city and a private operator, and will be operated free of charge from midnight on the 1st of next month.

Until now, the toll fees for the Munhak Tunnel were 400 KRW for compact cars, 800 KRW for small vehicles, and 1,100 KRW for large vehicles.

The city expects the daily traffic volume to increase from an average of 40,000 vehicles to 70,000 vehicles after the tunnel becomes toll-free, and plans to start a tunnel structure improvement project from May.

On the surplus land created by the removal of the tunnel's toll office, green spaces and rest areas will be created, and disconnected pedestrian paths will be connected. Additionally, low-noise road paving work will be carried out to reduce vehicle noise, and citizen convenience facilities will be expanded by utilizing the management building.

The city expects that making the Munhak Tunnel toll-free will disperse traffic on adjacent major arterial roads such as Dokbae-ro and Gyeongwon-daero, improving vehicle flow and enhancing accessibility between the old downtown areas.

The Munhak Tunnel is a 1.5 km long, six-lane road running through Munhak Mountain, connecting Michuhol-gu and Yeonsu-gu. To the north, it connects to the 2nd Gyeongin Expressway via Munhak IC, and to the south, it passes through Cheonghak-dong in Yeonsu-gu and extends to Songdo International City, playing a major role in balanced regional development.

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