Frequent Wrong-Way Driving on One-Way Roads in Gwangju Seo-gu Distribution Complex Causes Serious Problems

High Traffic Volume of Delivery and Freight Trucks but Insufficient Traffic Guidance Facilities

Accidents Between Vehicles Are Not Uncommon... Urgent Need for Countermeasures

Vehicles are driving in the wrong direction on Maewol 1-ro 49beon-gil, Seo-gu, Gwangju, despite it being a one-way street.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The roads within the distribution complex in Maewol-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City are suffering from vehicles driving in the wrong direction.

Although this area is designated as a one-way street, the traffic facilities indicating this are severely insufficient. Moreover, due to the nature of the distribution complex, there is a high volume of freight vehicles, making it dangerously prone to traffic accidents at any time.

According to Seo-gu on the 4th, Maewol 1-ro 49beon-gil and 57beon-gil near the Seobu Agricultural and Marine Products Market in Maewol-dong were established when the distribution complex was created following the 1997 decision to designate the area as a ‘distribution business facility.’

The reason for designating the roads as one-way was that at the time, vehicle traffic was not heavy, and it was judged that two-way traffic could be more dangerous given the nature of the distribution complex.

However, now that the Seobu Agricultural and Marine Products Center is established and heavily used by citizens, and with delivery companies densely located on both sides of the road, vehicle traffic has increased, significantly changing the traffic situation from the past.

Despite this situation, the problem is that traffic facilities indicating the one-way road are severely lacking. There are guide signs at the road entrances, but they are too small to be easily noticed.

Perhaps because of this, users unfamiliar with the traffic situation often do not realize it is a one-way road and drive in the wrong direction. Some delivery vehicles knowingly drive against traffic to exit the area more easily, frequently causing dangerous situations, according to nearby workers.

In fact, around 11:30 a.m. that day, the area looked dangerous at a glance, with cars parked on both sides of the road and freight trucks driving in the wrong direction tangled together.

It was not difficult to see several large freight trucks weighing over 25 tons loading and unloading.

Although the road is 10 meters wide with three lanes, only the center lane, the second lane, was usable in many places, and even then, vehicles driving in the correct direction had to wait because of the wrong-way drivers.

There were even absurd situations where wrong-way vehicles accelerated as if they were going in the correct direction, forcing vehicles driving properly to yield.

A representative of a delivery company met at the site said, “I wonder why they continue to keep this as a one-way road despite the heavy vehicle traffic. According to regulations, to get to the main road, you have to take a longer route, so most delivery vehicles drive against traffic because time is critical.”

The road management authority, Seo-gu, is not unaware of this. In fact, Seo-gu inspected the site in February with related departments such as the Traffic Division, Architecture Division, Construction Division, and the Traffic Safety Division of the Seobu Police Station to address the road’s dangers.

However, discussions about whether the only fundamental solution is to change the one-way road to a two-way road have delayed progress.

A Seo-gu official said, “Due to the nature of the distribution complex, companies are located on both sides of the road, so roadside parking is frequent. Therefore, if a center line is drawn, it could become an even more dangerous road. We believe this is not a matter for the district office and police to decide alone.”

He added, “We plan to hold a public hearing with representatives of the companies as soon as possible to listen to the voices of actual road users and make a comprehensive judgment.”