Gyeongnam Geoje-si Secures 9.3 Billion KRW in National Funds to Accelerate Opening of Local Road No. 58

Songjeong IC~Mundong National Road No. 14 Connection, Four-Lane Dual Carriageway

Government Budget for 2022 Increased Sharply from 1.3 Billion to 8 Billion Won

Geoje-si, Gyeongnam Province, plans to open Local Road No. 58, connecting Songjeong IC to Mundong-dong on National Road No. 14, by 2028.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Geoje City, Gyeongnam Province secured 9.3 billion KRW in national funding in 2022 for the construction project of Local Road No. 58, a four-lane road connecting Songjeong Interchange in Yeoncho-myeon to National Road No. 14 in Mundong-dong on the 2nd of last month.

A total of 314 billion KRW will be invested in the 5.77 km long road, including 200 billion KRW from the national government, 40 billion KRW from the provincial government, and 74 billion KRW from the city government, with construction expected to be completed by 2028.

Last year, Geoje City invested about 16 billion KRW of city funds and has completed 71% of negotiations, compensating 158 out of 268 land parcels to be acquired by November this year.

In July, the city requested the Public Procurement Service to handle the construction contract, conducted bidding in November, and plans to begin full-scale construction from February next year.

The city judged that the 1.3 billion KRW reflected in the 2022 government budget would be insufficient to complete the project by 2028, so it visited the National Assembly, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and other related departments to request an increase in the budget.

As more than half of the compensation negotiations were completed and the city persuaded that full-scale construction must proceed in February next year, it secured an increase of 800 million KRW, raising the total to 9.3 billion KRW.

The city expects that once Local Road No. 58 is opened, traffic volume will be dispersed, improving congestion in the central urban area and shortening travel time from Geoje to Busan.

Mayor Byeon Gwang-yong said, “Once the road opens, accessibility to Hallyeohaesang National Park will improve, contributing to balanced regional development and revitalization of the local economy,” adding, “We will do our best to attract national projects and secure national funding so that Geoje’s economy recovers and continues to grow.”