The trip to Jirisan and Hwaeomsa, which had to endure frequent road congestion due to overwhelming tourist demand, is expected to become more comfortable.
On the 30th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the construction work on the 4.7km section of National Road No. 18, the access road to Hwaeomsa in Jirisan National Park, from Naengcheon-ri to Hwangcheon-ri in Masan-myeon, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do, has been completed and will be fully opened from midnight on March 31.
The newly opened Hwaeomsa access road bypasses the section passing through the Masan-myeon township area of Gurye City with a newly constructed 2-lane, 2.7km road, and the remaining 2.0km section has been expanded to 4 lanes. Construction began in December 2016 and was completed over 5 years and 3 months with a total project cost of 49.3 billion KRW.
This section had insufficient road capacity, such as the number of lanes, compared to traffic demand during the tourist season, and the short distances between intersections caused frequent traffic congestion, causing significant inconvenience to local residents and road users.
Through this improvement project, travel time during the tourist season is expected to be reduced (from 20 minutes to 10 minutes), greatly enhancing the convenience and traffic safety for residents and tourists visiting the area.
In particular, the Jirisan National Park loop road and Hwaeomsa (Historic Site No. 505) attract about 500,000 tourists annually, and the completion of this national road improvement project is expected to contribute to the local economy.
Han Myung-hee, Director of Road Construction at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "With the recent phased recovery of daily life, traffic demand such as tourist numbers is expected to recover," adding, "We will continue to expand the arterial road network to alleviate traffic congestion and help revitalize the economy."
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