Gwanak-gu, Making Every Effort to Create a Safe Walking Environment

Focusing on pedestrian environments closely related to residents' daily lives... Ensuring safety for vulnerable pedestrians

Various projects including LED floor-type pedestrian traffic lights, audible pedestrian signals, installation of ramps, support for electric mobility device repair costs, and barrier-free forest trails

Ramp Installation Work

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) is accelerating efforts to protect residents safely from various incidents and accidents that have recently been on the rise and to create a pleasant living environment.

In particular, the district is focusing on pedestrian environments where residents walk and live daily to eliminate risk factors closely related to their lives.

According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority, the number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians in Gwanak-gu over the past five years has gradually decreased: 354 cases in 2018, 352 in 2019, 329 in 2020, 315 in 2021, and 283 in 2022.

Accordingly, this year the district plans to promote various projects aimed at improving mobility convenience for vulnerable pedestrians such as the elderly and children, and to create a safe and smart pedestrian environment.

First, the district will invest a total of 2.9 billion KRW this year to strengthen traffic safety facility systems within protection zones and to renovate these zones, creating an environment where residents can walk with peace of mind.

They plan to install ‘LED floor-type pedestrian traffic lights’ at 30 crosswalks in areas with frequent pedestrian traffic accidents, and add audible pedestrian signal assist devices and floor-type pedestrian traffic lights at 11 protection zones around elementary schools and 52 accident-prone crosswalks, completing a ‘smart pedestrian safety system.’

Convenience facilities for residents using wheelchairs, strollers, and other mobility aids are also being expanded. By November, the district plans to invest 20 million KRW to install 30 ramps at small public-use facilities such as convenience stores, pharmacies, and restaurants with floor areas under 300㎡ that have thresholds at their entrances.

Additionally, by the end of the year, an elevator will be installed at the overpass in front of Bonghyeon Elementary School, and utility poles located in the middle of the road causing inconvenience will be relocated, continuing efforts to ensure safe and convenient pedestrian movement for residents.

The district also operates various welfare projects for a safe pedestrian environment. It provides support for ‘electric mobility device repair costs’ to registered disabled residents of Gwanak-gu. Regardless of the number of repairs within a year, basic livelihood security recipients and low-income disabled persons can receive up to 300,000 KRW annually, while general disabled persons can receive up to 150,000 KRW.

Disabled persons wishing to request repairs can fill out a repair request form at their local community service center and submit it to designated repair shops. The list of designated repair shops can be found on the Gwanak-gu website.

For those who find it difficult to hike or take park walks, the district operates the ‘Gwanaksan Barrier-Free Forest Trail.’ This deck-type forest trail is gently sloped without obstacles such as stairs, allowing elderly, disabled persons, and stroller users to move easily.

Rest areas utilizing the terrain have been created, and resting facilities such as backrest benches and picnic tables are installed throughout so users can rest whenever they feel tired. Additionally, facilities for the disabled such as braille guideboards, handrails, and electric wheelchair charging stations have been installed to allow disabled persons to experience the mountain with ease.

Park Junhee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, stated, “We will create an environment where anyone can easily travel through continuous improvements to the pedestrian environment,” and added, “We will continue to prioritize residents’ safety and do our best to ensure that everyone can enjoy a safe and convenient pedestrian environment.”

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