Nowon-gu, Full Administrative Effort to Extend the Underground Section of Dongbu Expressway

October Groundbreaking for Wolreunggyo~Daechi Useong Apartment (12.5 km), Target Completion of 4-Lane Road by 2029
Approximately 70,000 Vehicles Diverted Daily, Reducing Travel Time by 40 Minutes
Forming Underground Tunnel Exit at Nowon-gu Entrance Affects Residents' Life and Traffic Environment, Ongoing Discussions with Seoul City to Extend Underground Section

Nowon-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) welcomed the groundbreaking of the Dongbu Expressway underground project and announced that it is continuously consulting with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to ensure the smooth extension of the project section.

The Dongbu Expressway underground project involves constructing a deep underground road (tunnel) from Wolgye-dong to Daechi-dong, thereby putting the existing Dongbu Expressway section underground.

▲ Phase 1 (Wolreung~Daechi, 12.5km) will build the deep underground road by 2029 ▲ Phase 2 will put the existing Dongbu Expressway section (Wolgye~Songjeong, 11.5km) underground by 2034.

The section that has recently begun construction is Phase 1. A four-lane underground road exclusively for small vehicles will be built passing under Jungnangcheon Stream and the Han River. It will allow entry and exit via the existing Wolreung and Gunja interchanges on the Dongbu Expressway, and new interchanges at Samsung, Cheongdam, and Daechi will enable access from Yeongdong-daero and Dosan-daero.

By 2034, when the underground project is completed, the surface traffic volume on the Dongbu Expressway is expected to decrease by up to 43%, from 155,100 vehicles per day to 87,517 vehicles per day, and travel time from Wolgye-dong in Nowon-gu to Daechi-dong in Gangnam-gu could be reduced from around 50 minutes to about 10 minutes.

Additionally, due to the nature of the riverside road, flooding issues caused by heavy summer rains can be significantly improved, and large-scale parks and green spaces can be created on the surface where the road disappears, greatly enhancing residents' living environment. Accordingly, the district plans to focus administrative efforts on the prompt commencement of construction in the relevant section.

Meanwhile, the district, which has weak accessibility to the city center, has recently achieved notable results through continuous efforts to expand the metropolitan transportation network. The fastest-progressing ▲ Dongbuk Line light rail is scheduled to open in two years, and ▲ the groundbreaking of the GTX-C line will greatly improve the railway transportation network to the city center and Gyeonggi area.

At the same time, in the area of improving the automobile road network, which bears a large share of traffic volume, the key project is the Dongbu Expressway underground project. In the recent 'Resident Policy Survey' conducted on the second anniversary of the 8th elected administration, residents identified this project as the most important and urgent issue in the transportation sector.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “Expanding the metropolitan transportation network is an important key not only to resolving the current daily inconveniences of residents but also to advancing toward a future city. Since many residents have long awaited the Dongbu Expressway underground project, we will continue to consult to successfully complete the extension of the section.”

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