Gwangju City Launches Efforts to Address Citizen Inconvenience from Urban Railway Line 2 Construction

Kim Junyoung, Director of the Citizens Safety Office of Gwangju City, held an informal meeting with reporters on the 9th and explained the prompt resolution of civil complaints related to the construction of Urban Railway Line 2. Photo by Gwangju City

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Gwangju City has formed a dedicated task force (TF) to promptly address and resolve civil complaints arising from the construction of Urban Railway Line 2.

On July 8, Gwangju City held the first meeting of the "Rapid Response Urban Railway TF for Citizen Inconvenience" (headed by Kim Junyoung, Director of the Citizens Safety Office), with the participation of four offices and headquarters and nine departments, to discuss measures for alleviating citizen inconvenience.

As of June 30, the civil engineering progress of Phase 1 of Urban Railway Line 2 stands at 92%, while the road opening rate remains at 42%. The road opening, originally scheduled for completion in June 2025, has been delayed and is now expected to be finished in December 2025.

The main reasons for the delay are: ▲ the discovery of more bedrock than anticipated, and ▲ the additional occurrence of underground obstacles. In areas such as Kumho District and Baegun Square, a large amount of hard "gneiss" was found, requiring the use of hydraulic breakers and excavators to crush the bedrock instead of the conventional blasting method. As a result, the work volume was reduced to one-third of the original rate. In addition, 1.8 times more obstacles such as water and sewage pipes, city gas pipes, and power and communication lines were discovered compared to the design, increasing the processing time. All related work has now been completed.

To promptly resolve citizen inconvenience under these circumstances, the city is operating the TF team and implementing three customized measures that citizens can directly experience. The three major measures are: ▲ improving the level difference between steel plates and road surfaces, ▲ maintaining traffic lanes and guidance lines, and ▲ ensuring the safety of sidewalks and crosswalks.

The city plans to complete road opening by December 22, 2025, and will continue to operate the TF team until then to respond quickly to citizen complaints. In addition, a "30-day intensive citizen inconvenience resolution period" will be implemented, during which the TF team will visit complaint sites once a week and transparently disclose the entire construction process.

At an informal meeting with reporters on July 9, Kim Junyoung, Director of the Citizens Safety Office, said, "We are well aware of the significant inconvenience experienced by citizens," and added, "We will do our utmost to resolve these issues and complete road opening within this year."

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