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Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Dong-geun) is promoting the ‘Urban Clearing Project’ to integrate and reorganize unnecessary street facilities installed on roads in order to create a pedestrian-friendly city and a pedestrian-centered road environment.

Uijeongbu City is promoting the "Urban Clearing Project," which integrates and reorganizes unnecessary street facilities installed on roads to create a pedestrian-friendly city and a road environment centered on pedestrians. Photo by Uijeongbu City

According to Uijeongbu City on the 30th, this project aims to ▲strengthen road safety ▲efficiently utilize space ▲improve urban aesthetics by reorganizing excessive and duplicated street facilities to enhance citizens’ convenience. Through this, the city plans to create a pedestrian-centered road environment and contribute to building a safe and pleasant city.

◇ Activation of Safe Road Environment Creation through the ‘Urban Clearing Project’

Uijeongbu City removed unnecessary street facilities that obstruct drivers’ visibility and simplified road surface markings and traffic safety signs to activate safety functions.

Drivers must see, read, and judge signs within a limited time while using the road, but excessive or duplicated road surface markings, traffic safety signs, and guide signs reduced visibility and readability, causing confusion and sometimes negatively affecting safety. To resolve these issues, unnecessary signs have been reorganized to strengthen road safety and create a sustainable road environment.

◇ Comprehensive Survey of Excessive and Duplicated Posts and Signs

The city conducted a comprehensive survey of street facilities along major roads by road name, starting with the Gosan district. Based on the survey results, unnecessary facilities that hinder drivers’ visibility were removed, and traffic safety signs and road surface markings were simplified.

As a result of the Gosan district survey, a total of 264 facilities were selected for reorganization, of which 239 posts were dismantled and 251 signs were integrated. The reorganization targets included ▲fire hydrant guide signs ▲parking control and towing zone guide signs ▲speed bump warning signs ▲crosswalk guide signs, among others.

This measure greatly contributed to urban safety and efficient road space securing, laying the foundation for proactive safe city creation.

◇ Completion of Street Facility Environment Maintenance in Minrak 2 District

Following the Gosan district, the Urban Clearing Project was successfully completed this year in the Minrak 2 district. In Minrak 2, broken auxiliary traffic light signs that had been installed for over 10 years, illegally attached private guide signs, and neglected facilities due to lack of management were completely removed.

The main facilities maintained included ▲unmanaged signs ▲reflectors that lost reflective function due to aging ▲unused leak detection facilities ▲rusted unused bus stops ▲unauthorized and illegal private guide signs ▲broken LED auxiliary traffic light signs, etc.

In particular, tourist guide signs were newly produced according to guideline specifications and integrated into existing street facilities, and unused communication poles had removal request letters sent to local telecommunications companies. Unnecessary posts were dismantled and integrated into existing facilities to create an efficient and neat road environment.

Uijeongbu City is promoting the "Urban Clearing Project" to integrate and organize unnecessary street facilities installed on the roads. The photo shows the installation of a child protection zone sign. Photo by Uijeongbu City

◇ Maintenance of Unnecessary Safety Facilities such as Private Guide Signs and Bollards

The city continues to maintain road facilities considering the safety of both pedestrians and drivers. Especially, bollards and private guide signs, which can be obstacles to pedestrian safety along roadsides, were selected as major targets for systematic maintenance.

In 2023, 1,497 bollards were maintained, improving road space utilization and enhancing the safety of the pedestrian environment. In 2024, an additional 901 bollards and 245 private guide signs are being maintained.

Along with this, by 2025, 479 more bollards and 63 private guide signs will be additionally maintained to remove unnecessary obstacles around roads and create an efficient and safe urban environment.

These continuous maintenance activities are expected to have positive effects in various aspects such as ▲strengthening pedestrian safety ▲creating a pleasant urban aesthetic ▲efficient utilization of road space.

◇ ‘Urban Clearing Project’ Considering Both Safety and Environment

Through the Urban Clearing Project, the city integrated separately installed road and safety signs on roadsides into nearby streetlights, traffic lights, and security closed-circuit television (CCTV) posts. This integrated installation adjusted the post height to over 2.1 meters to secure safety and visibility, simultaneously enhancing the safety of pedestrians and drivers.

In particular, for the dismantled signs, there were difficulties in post integration due to screw-fastened structures, but the city devised a plan to recycle signs by converting the existing screw-fastened type into stainless steel band fastening through rail cutting.

This saved about 40 million KRW in purchasing new signs, and the dismantled facilities were recycled considering environmental sustainability.

These efforts contribute not only to budget savings but also to efficient resource use and the creation of a sustainable urban environment.

◇ Expansion of the ‘Urban Clearing Project’

Uijeongbu City plans to expand the Urban Clearing Project by conducting additional comprehensive surveys targeting major roads. The roads under survey include Simin-ro, Hoguk-ro, Pyeonghwa-ro, Dongil-ro, Gyeongui-ro, Chudong-ro, and Sinhung-ro, which are areas with high needs for maintenance to improve pedestrian safety and urban aesthetics.

Mayor Kim Dong-geun said, “Through this additional survey, we plan to carefully review the safety and efficiency of roadside street facilities and reorganize unnecessary facilities,” adding, “We will continue efforts to create a safe and walkable city.”

This project is expected to provide an environment satisfying both pedestrians and drivers and serve as an opportunity to further develop Uijeongbu City’s road environment.

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