[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 2nd that after improving the lanes and signal operations around the Sinsa Station intersection in Gangnam-gu, where severe traffic congestion occurred, the vehicle queue length has decreased and the congestion has eased.
The Sinsa Station intersection usually experiences heavy traffic congestion due to high traffic volume, but the number of lanes decreased by two due to lane occupation caused by the extension construction of the Shinbundang Line subway. As a result, traffic congestion worsened to the extent that drivers had to wait for the signal more than seven times (22 minutes of waiting time) to make a left turn from Hannam Bridge toward Dosan Park, causing significant inconvenience to citizens.
Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency analyzed traffic volume by direction and, in consultation with the city and district offices and police stations, devised improvement measures. They increased the left-turn lane from Hannam Bridge toward Dosan Park by one lane (from 2 to 3 lanes), while reducing the lane toward Gangnam Station from Hannam Bridge by one lane (from 3 to 2 lanes) due to difficulty in handling straight traffic caused by construction, and optimized the signal timing.
As a result, the average vehicle queue length heading from Hannam Bridge to the Sinsa Station intersection decreased by 55%, from 523 meters to 235 meters, and the travel speed increased by 26.9%, from 7.8 km/h to 9.9 km/h. The number of signals required to make a left turn from Hannam Bridge toward Dosan Park also decreased to two times (6 minutes of waiting time).
Choi Gwan-ho, Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said, "We will actively identify points where improvements are possible through lane adjustments and signal operations without large-scale facility construction or additional costs, to alleviate vehicle congestion and reduce inconvenience to citizens."
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