Seoul Dongbu Expressway 'Changdong~Sanggye' Section Goes Underground... 1.5 Times Seoul Plaza Waterfront Cultural Park Created Above

Changdong~Sanggye New Economic Center Area Transformed into Waterfront Cultural Space by 2025 along Jungnangcheon
Two New Pedestrian Bridges Connecting East-West Changdong~Sanggye Separated by Jungnangcheon Also to Be Built

Location Map of Dongbu Expressway Underpass and Connecting Bridge

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City will convert a 1,356m section of the Dongbu Expressway, between Changdonggyo and Sanggyegyo bridges heading toward Uijeongbu, into an underground road. Above the removed roadway, a waterside cultural park measuring 1.5 times the size of Seoul Plaza and stretching 800m along the Jungnangcheon Stream will be created.

On the 2nd, Seoul City announced that the area along Jungnangcheon, which runs through the ‘Changdong·Sanggye New Economic Center,’ will be transformed by 2025 into a densely connected pedestrian zone featuring culture, arts, and relaxation spaces. Two new bridges connecting the waterside cultural park and the opposite side of Jungnangcheon will link cultural and artistic industry hubs such as the soon-to-be-completed ‘Seoul Arena’ (2025), ‘Seoul Robot Artificial Intelligence Science Museum’ (2023), and ‘Seoul Photo Museum’ (2023) by foot. This project is part of the government’s New Deal initiative, with a total investment of 195.3 billion KRW, including 12 billion KRW in national funds.

Seoul City plans to prioritize the opening of the Dongbu Expressway underground road and two connecting bridges by December 2024, coinciding with the opening of the ‘Seoul Arena,’ and complete the waterside cultural park by June 2025. The main infrastructure developments include ▲ undergrounding the Dongbu Expressway (Changdong~Sanggye section) and creating the waterside cultural park above ▲ constructing two east-west connecting bridges between Changdong and Sanggye. The underground road and Jungnangcheon waterside cultural park have completed preliminary procedures such as underground safety impact assessments and traffic management plans during construction, and construction began at the end of last month.

With an expected increase in foot traffic, Seoul City anticipates that once the underground road, waterside cultural park, and connecting bridges are completed, accessibility between the Jungnangcheon-separated Changdong·Sanggye New Economic Center?comprising ‘Seoul Arena, cultural and artistic industry hubs, Changdong Station ~ biomedical cluster, smart technology-based innovation growth industry hubs, Nowon Station, etc.’?will significantly improve. In particular, after the opening of the ‘Seoul Arena,’ many citizens visiting for concerts and performances will be able to conveniently move between Changdong Station and Nowon Station using the pedestrian bridges.

To minimize inconvenience to citizens, Seoul City plans to operate a temporary underground road during construction to maintain the full functionality of the Dongbu Expressway. The Dongbu Expressway underground road is being developed as an ‘urban planning facility (road) project’ under the National Land Planning Act, and last year, SK Ecoplant was selected as the contractor through a ‘basic design technical proposal bid.’

Two bridges connecting Dobong-gu Changdong and Nowon-gu Sanggye-dong across Jungnangcheon will both be pedestrian-accessible. In front of the ‘Seoul Arena,’ a combined pedestrian and vehicle bridge (length 118m, width 32m) will be installed. In front of Nonghyup Hanaro Mart, a pedestrian-only bridge (length 110m, width 10m) will be constructed. This will increase the number of pedestrian bridges from one (Changdonggyo combined pedestrian and vehicle bridge) to three.

Lee Jeong-hwa, Director of Seoul City’s Urban Infrastructure Headquarters, said, “The infrastructure being built this time will serve as a bridge connecting various core projects of the Changdong·Sanggye New Economic Center aimed at securing a self-sustaining base and creating jobs in northeastern Seoul. By transforming the area where the road used to be into a waterside cultural park connected to Jungnangcheon, we expect to drive the development of the northeastern region centered around Jungnangcheon.”