Green Light for Haenam Expressway Construction: Phase 2 Section Selected for Preliminary Feasibility Study Project

Gangjin~Haenam Bukpyeong Section 37.5km... "Expressway Runs to the Land's End"

The second phase of the Gwangju-Wando Expressway project has been selected as a government preliminary feasibility study target project.

According to Haenam County on the 23rd, the second phase section of the Gwangju-Wando Expressway spans 38.9 km from Jakcheon-myeon, Gangjin County to Bukpyeong-myeon, Haenam County, with a national budget investment of 1.5965 trillion KRW.

The Gwangju-Wando Expressway project plans to complete the first phase construction of the 51.11 km section from Byeokjin-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju to Jakcheon, Gangjin by 2026. The preliminary feasibility study approval and design cost reflection for the second phase section are urgently needed.

Location map of Haenam-Wando Expressway
[Photo by Haenam-gun]

The second phase project, linked with the first phase, is a key project for establishing a national trunk road network to ensure smooth connectivity between the north-south and east-west axis expressways. Haenam County, led by County Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan, has consistently requested the prompt selection of the project as a preliminary feasibility study target by directly visiting the National Assembly earlier this month.

Accordingly, last year it was selected as a "priority project" in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s first five-year expressway plan, and the recent selection as a preliminary feasibility study target project is a green light for the early completion of the expressway.

In Haenam County, following the opening of the Solar City access road last year, large-scale SOC infrastructure developments are showing concrete results, including the opening of the Boseong-Haenam-Imseong railway in 2025 and the opening of the National Road No. 77 connecting road in 2027.

The county actively advocated to central government agencies for the early opening of the expressway in response to rapidly changing local conditions such as increasing tourism demand in the southwestern region including the activation of Solar City enterprise city, the establishment of the National Agricultural and Food Climate Change Response Center, and logistics improvements due to increased online and offline consumption of agricultural and marine specialty products after COVID-19, achieving this outcome.

Once the expressway opens, travel time from Haenam to Gwangju is expected to be reduced to around 40 minutes, greatly improving regional transportation conditions.

In particular, it is anticipated to be a groundbreaking opportunity not only for tourism revitalization but also for logistics activation in the southwestern part of Jeollanam-do, contributing to the formation of a nationwide single living zone.

Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan said, “As a result of continuously proposing the project to the central government and the National Assembly, it was selected as a preliminary feasibility study target project, laying the foundation to provide transportation convenience for various key projects in Haenam County. We will work closely with Jeollanam-do and related institutions to ensure the project proceeds flawlessly without any setbacks for passing the preliminary feasibility study.”

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