Jogyuil Jinju Mayor Meets with Won Heeryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Jo Gyu-il, mayor of Jinju, Gyeongnam, visited the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 10th and requested the early opening of a bypass national road to separate the route, as the road between Jinju Jeongchon and Sacheon Chukdong overlaps with National Routes 3 and 33, causing habitual traffic congestion. He also proposed the second relocation of public institutions from the Seoul metropolitan area to the Innovation City to promote regional balanced development and revitalize the Innovation City.

The national road connecting Jinju Jeongchon and Sacheon Chukdong currently serves as a main arterial road passing through key infrastructure such as the Gyeongnam National Aviation Industrial Complex and local industrial complexes, but habitual congestion results in excessive time and logistics costs.

Joo Kyu-il, mayor of Jinju City, Gyeongnam, is meeting with Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, to propose changes to the national highway construction project.

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In particular, due to rapidly changing conditions such as the establishment of companies in the Gyeongnam National Aviation Industrial Complex, the establishment of the Space Aviation Agency, and the relocation of related institutions and companies, concerns are growing that road congestion will worsen, emphasizing the need for the early opening of the bypass national road.

In 2019, Jinju City proposed the bypass national road project to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s “5th Five-Year Plan for National and Local Roads (2021?2025),” and it was reflected, but it was ultimately excluded in the 2020 preliminary feasibility study by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

On this day, Mayor Jo met with Minister Won Hee-ryong of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to convey these circumstances in detail and actively requested that the bypass national road project between Jinju Jeongchon and Sacheon Chukdong be added (amended) to the “5th Five-Year Plan for National and Local Roads.”

At the meeting with Minister Won, Mayor Jo said, “The opening of the bypass national road will solve habitual congestion caused by increased traffic demand from the southern inland high-speed railway and the Namhae-Yeosu undersea tunnel opening, which boosts the South Coast tourism industry, and will greatly contribute to reducing logistics transportation costs for companies. To complete and revitalize the Innovation City, which was established as a regional innovation hub, related institutions connected to the first relocated institutions must be additionally relocated to the Innovation City to create synergy effects. If dispersed to other regions, it will cause conflicts between local governments and worsen regional imbalance, so please comply with the Innovation City Act’s principles for Innovation City relocation.”

Jinju City plans to make every effort to establish the Innovation City as a regional growth hub for Gyeongnam’s development foundation through the opening of the bypass national road connecting Jinju Jeongchon and Sacheon Chukdong and the second relocation of related institutions connected to the public institutions relocated to the Innovation City.

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