Seogangseok, Songpa-gu Mayor-elect's First Civil Petition: Improvement of 'Boin Middle and High School' School Route

[Seoul District News] Songpa-gu Completes Pedestrian Environment Improvement Project on 21st Securing Safety with Sidewalk Expansion, Textured Block Enhancement & Veterans Family Appreciation Event Held ... Gwangjin-gu Gwangjang-dong Public Office Parking Lot Opens 10 Spaces as Resident Priority Parking ... Gangdong-gu Implements 24-Hour Unmanned Enforcement of Disabled Parking Zones Using IoT Technology

Seogangseok, Mayor of Songpa District, and parents of Boin Middle and High School are observing the completed site of the sidewalk environment improvement project on Dongnam-ro 22-gil on the 21st.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced on the 21st that it has completed a pedestrian environment improvement project to secure safety on the school route of Boin Middle and High School.

This was the first civil complaint of the transition committee of Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, and the district quickly proceeded with the project considering it was related to student safety.

The road in question is Dongnam-ro 22-gil, which serves as the main school route for Boin Middle and High School and is also used as a passageway by residents of Garak Sang-a and Uchang Apartments.

Due to expected changes in traffic conditions caused by the reconstruction of nearby apartments, there had been continuous demands from Boin Middle and High School and parents for improving the safety of students' commuting routes.

Moreover, complaints had been increasing recently in conjunction with the full-scale promotion of the reconstruction project.

Accordingly, Mayor Seo Gang-seok selected this issue as the first civil complaint of the transition committee immediately after his election in June and hurriedly visited the site to seek solutions.

As a result, to ensure student safety, the existing 10m road's parking priority zones were reorganized, the sidewalk width was expanded to improve walking conditions, and a bicycle lane was newly established so that pedestrians, bicycles, and cars can use the road safely.

Along with this, character blocks with designs created through student contests were installed on the sidewalks to create a distinctive street environment that allows students to enjoy their commute to and from school.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “We quickly promoted the sidewalk environment improvement project to secure the safety of students on their daily commute,” and added, “We will continue to listen carefully to residents' opinions and actively address inconveniences in daily life one by one.”

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced that on the 22nd, it held the ‘2022 Songpa-gu Veterans Family Appreciation Event’ hosted by the Songpa-gu Veterans Hall Operation Council at the district office auditorium.

This event was held to express gratitude and respect to elderly veterans who sacrificed and devoted themselves to the nation.

Due to the resurgence of COVID-19, the number of participants was reduced, and about 50 elderly veterans from nine veterans organizations attended. Commendations were awarded to 26 exemplary national veterans in appreciation of their noble sacrifice and patriotism.

The district plans to hold small-scale events by each organization to convey thanks and consolation to veterans who could not attend.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “There was a lack of effort and interest in remembering, honoring, and respecting the sacrifices and dedication of national veterans,” and added, “The 8th term Songpa-gu administration will prioritize support for national veterans and work to spread a culture of respect and honor.”

On his first day in office on July 1, Mayor Seo Gang-seok approved ‘Expanding support and respect for socially vulnerable groups and national veterans’ as his first agenda and is working on revising related ordinances and developing policies for socially vulnerable groups.

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) will open 10 parking spaces in the annexed parking lot of public buildings as resident-priority parking zones starting August 1 to alleviate parking difficulties in residential areas.

Due to the Road Traffic Act enforced since last October, roadside parking lots in school zones have been abolished, which led to the deletion of resident-priority parking zones in the Gwangjang Elementary School school zone, worsening parking difficulties for residents of Gwangjang-dong.

Accordingly, the district decided to open 10 parking spaces in the annexed parking lot of the Gwangjang-dong Cleaning Department (410-24 Gwangjang-dong) as resident-priority parking zones to minimize inconvenience for residents.

To ensure a pleasant and safe parking environment, vehicle number recognition devices were installed to distinguish resident-priority parking zones, and facility operation was entrusted to the Gwangjin-gu Facilities Management Corporation.

Resident-priority parking zones can be used from 7 p.m. on weekdays to 8 a.m. the next day, and all day on weekends. They are not open during weekday working hours to accommodate visiting civil petitioners.

Applications and usage are the same as existing resident-priority parking zones and can be made through the Gwangjin-gu Facilities Management Corporation, with allocation based on a point system. The usage fee is 30,000 KRW per month.

Additionally, the district is encouraging the opening of idle parking spaces in public facilities and private buildings to compensate for the abolition of roadside parking in school zones, providing various incentives to participants.

First, to promote the ‘Annexed Parking Lot Opening Project,’ support of up to 22 million KRW is provided for parking facility improvement works such as painting, barrier installation, and CCTV installation, and all parking revenue of 50,000 KRW per space per day is paid to the parking lot owners.

Furthermore, buildings paying traffic inducement charges receive up to a 5% reduction benefit.

The ‘Idle Land Parking Lot Creation Project,’ which creates and opens parking lots on unused small land parcels, is also continuously promoted. Participants receive various benefits such as support for parking lot construction costs, parking revenue payments, and property tax reductions.

Participation in the ‘Annexed Parking Lot Opening Project’ and ‘Idle Land Creation Project’ can be made by phone or visit to the Traffic Guidance Division of Gwangjin-gu Office.

Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “Parking-related complaints make up a large portion of the received civil complaints,” and added, “We will actively resolve parking complaints by discovering various policies such as expanding public parking lots, opening annexed parking lots, parking lot sharing projects, and using park parking lots.”

◆Gwangjin-gu Council Personnel ▲Secretary-General Shin Yong-ha

Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Soo-hee) will monitor disabled parking spaces 24 hours a day using Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

This unmanned monitoring system recognizes the license plates of vehicles entering disabled parking spaces, checks whether the vehicle is registered as a disabled vehicle, issues warning alerts to illegally parked vehicles or guides them to move voluntarily, and imposes fines on vehicles that do not move.

By the end of last month, the district completed the installation of 20 unmanned monitoring devices mainly in areas where rapid monitoring was difficult, considering the frequency of visits by disabled persons and the number of violation reports, such as the Central Veterans Hospital, Gangdong Greenway Family Camping Site, and Iljasan Gymnasium.

It is expected that the installation of the unmanned monitoring system will not only improve mobility convenience for disabled drivers but also prevent complaints caused by fines imposed without prior guidance, producing positive effects.

A district official said, “We plan to actively introduce more diverse and effective institutional and technological measures to enhance convenience for disabled persons,” and added, “We will continue efforts to raise proper awareness of disabled parking spaces.”