"‘8 Minutes to Yeouido’ They Said... ‘Bich Joheun Gaesalgu’ Sinwol-Yeoui Underground Road"

Seoul City Promoted "Reduced by Over 32 Minutes"
But Long Entry Queues and Cutting In Cause Chaos

Commuting Speed Below 30 km/h
Not Much Different from Existing Gukhoe-daero

The Sinwol-Yeouido underground road, expected to reduce commuting time from Sinwol IC to Yeouido during peak hours from 32 minutes to 8 minutes, is being criticized as useless. Around 8 a.m. on the 6th, traffic congestion continued on the Seoul-bound entrance ramp (3 lanes) near Sinwol IC. Photo by Yoo Byung-don tamond@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] “What’s the point of using it if it gets equally congested during rush hour?”

Shin Mu-young (34), who commutes from Seo-gu, Incheon to Yeouido, Seoul, had long given up hope on the ‘Sinwol-Yeoui Underground Road.’ Opened on the 16th of last month, this road is a small vehicle-only route connecting Sinwol IC in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, to Yeouidaero (Gukhoe-daero) in Yeongdeungpo-gu and Olympic-daero. The Seoul Metropolitan Government promoted it as a route that could be traversed in 8 minutes instead of the usual 32 minutes.

However, when Shin tried using the road around 8 a.m. on a weekday, there was little difference from the previous route. To enter the underground road, drivers must use the 3rd lane out of 4 lanes, but long queues formed, and vehicles in the 1st and 2nd lanes forced their way in, worsening the congestion.

When the reporter visited the underground road entrance around 8 a.m. on the 6th, vehicles were lined up for over 1 km, causing continuous congestion. Even considering the rush hour, this was in stark contrast to the somewhat eased congestion in lanes 1 and 2 from the end of the Gyeongin Expressway.

Just before entering the underground road, the lanes split again into lanes 3 to 5, and not only vehicles intending to use the underground road (lanes 3 and 4) but also those exiting via lane 5 crowded the area. During rush hour, the speed of vehicles using the underground road does not even reach 30 km/h.

It was found that the speed when using the Sinwol-Yeoui Underpass during rush hours, when drivers are congested, was not significantly different from using the existing Gukhoe-daero. Comparing the time taken from Seo-gu, Incheon to the National Assembly building around 9 a.m. that day, both the existing route (blue square) and the route using the underpass (red square) took about the same 54 minutes.

In effect, it is no different from using the existing Gukhoe-daero. Comparing the time taken from Seo-gu, Incheon to the National Assembly building, both the existing route and the underground road route took about 54 minutes.

Since its opening, there have been 20 cases of mistaken entry by medium and large vehicles forcing their way in. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has reinforced measures to prevent large vehicles from mistakenly entering by installing entry barriers, air balloon signboards, and general height restriction signs.

Kwon Wan-taek, head of the Road Planning Division at Seoul City, explained, "We plan to remove the guardrails between Gukhoe-daero and Sinwol-Yeoui Underground Road by mid-month to make it easier for drivers to choose between the two roads. Since consultations with related agencies such as the police are in the final stages, we expect the issue to be resolved soon."