On the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 21st, traffic congestion on major highways nationwide has somewhat eased, allowing vehicles to pick up speed.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5 p.m. that day, the estimated travel times by passenger car from Seoul Tollgate to major cities nationwide are 4 hours 40 minutes to Busan, 4 hours 50 minutes to Ulsan, 4 hours 10 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours 30 minutes to Gwangju, 2 hours 40 minutes to Gangneung, and 2 hours to Daejeon. This is about 1 to 2 hours shorter than when departing at 1 p.m., indicating much smoother traffic flow.
However, congestion is occurring in some sections. On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan, vehicles are moving slowly in the following sections: Jamwon to Seocho (3 km), Giheung to Giheung Dongtan area (2 km), Namsajinwi to Namsa area (2 km), Cheonan to Cheonan Junction area (8 km), Oksan Junction to Oksan (9 km), Sintanjin to Biryong Junction (15 km), and Ocheon Rest Area to Ocheon 2 Tunnel area (11 km).
On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Mokpo, congestion appeared in the following sections: Seopyeongtaek Junction to Seohae Bridge (13 km), near Dangjin (3 km), and near Dongseocheon Junction (2 km). On the Jungbu Expressway heading toward Nami, vehicles are unable to speed up in the following sections: near Daeso Junction (2 km), near Jincheon Tunnel (2 km), and from near Seocheongju to Nami Junction (3 km). On the Jungbu Naeryuk Line heading toward Changwon, congestion is occurring in the following sections: Yeoju Junction to Gamgok area (11 km), Mungyeong Saejae Tunnel to Mungyeong Rest Area (19 km), and near Sangju to Nakdong Junction area (2 km).
The expected nationwide traffic volume for the day is approximately 5.15 million vehicles. Of these, about 500,000 vehicles are expected to move from the metropolitan area to local regions, and about 360,000 vehicles from local regions to the metropolitan area. The Expressway Corporation anticipates that congestion will clear around 6 to 7 p.m.
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