[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] On the afternoon of the last day of the Chuseok holiday, the 22nd, traffic congestion on major highways nationwide heading home eased somewhat, but some sections still showed slow traffic flow.
According to Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5:40 PM that day, the Seoul-bound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway were congested over a total distance of 27 km, including the Anseong Junction to Namsa section and the Nami Junction to Oksan area. The Busan-bound lanes were congested over a total of 8 km, including the Jamwon to Seocho and Osan to Namsa sections.
The Seoul-bound lanes of the Seohaean Expressway experienced slow traffic over a total of 17 km, including the Iljik Junction area to Geumcheon and Dangjin to Seohae Bridge sections.
The Hanam-bound lanes of the Jungbu Expressway saw stop-and-go traffic over 14 km, including the Hanam to Hanam Junction and Nami Junction to Seocheongju areas. The Incheon-bound lanes of the Yeongdong Expressway were also slow over a total of 7 km, including the Deokpyeong area to Yangji Tunnel.
At 6 PM that day, the estimated travel times by passenger car from major cities nationwide to the Seoul tollgate were: Busan 4 hours 40 minutes, Mokpo 4 hours, Ulsan 4 hours 20 minutes, Gwangju 3 hours 40 minutes, Daegu 3 hours 40 minutes, Daejeon 2 hours 10 minutes, and Gangneung 3 hours.
The total traffic volume nationwide was predicted to be 4.7 million vehicles. Of these, 490,000 vehicles were expected to move from local areas to the metropolitan area, and 340,000 vehicles from the metropolitan area to local areas. The Korea Expressway Corporation anticipated that the homebound traffic congestion would clear around 10 to 11 PM that day.
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