Gwangju Area Pothole Accidents Record Lowest Ever Last Year

The number of vehicle damages caused by potholes in the Gwangju area has reached an all-time low.

According to Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 13th, there were 134 pothole accidents last year, and 95 have occurred so far this year.

This is a significant decrease compared to 241 cases in 2020 and 1,194 cases in 2021.

In particular, despite a record snowfall of about 67 cm in December last year, pothole accidents sharply declined.

Potholes refer to holes that form on asphalt surfaces due to the freeze-thaw process of rainwater infiltrating the road surface, often caused by aging pavement and snow removal operations. They mainly occur during the thawing season and heavy rainfalls and must be repaired quickly to prevent major accidents.

After the recent heavy snowfall, the city immediately organized the ‘Citizen Safety Accident Prevention Team’ and urgently repaired 7,921 potholes by February 1 of this year.

Among 560 maintenance target sections, including damage related to the heavy snowfall, road resurfacing and small-scale repairs were completed on 350 sections by March 13, with a budget of 3.6 billion KRW.

By the end of April, an additional 4.1 billion KRW will be invested to complete repairs on the remaining 210 sections, and using 2.5 billion KRW in national funds, repairs will be carried out on approximately 30 km of aging damaged sections along the four main gateway roads (Dongmun-daero, Seomun-daero, Bukmun-daero, Daenam-daero).

The Comprehensive Construction Headquarters maintains a 24/7 road repair system through mobile repair teams and emergency recovery contractors, striving to protect citizens' lives and property by responding to road damage complaints within one hour.

During the summer rainy season and typhoon periods with heavy rainfall, additional mobile repair teams will be organized and operated.

Currently, Gwangju manages 597 km of roads, which is equivalent to about 5,000 km when converted to single lanes. Maintaining repairs on a 6-year cycle requires an annual budget of approximately 78 billion KRW, but this year, only 10.2 billion KRW, including 2.5 billion KRW in national funds, has been allocated for road maintenance.

Accordingly, the city plans to request an additional special grant of about 8 billion KRW from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to maintain aging sections.

Park Sang-baek, head of the city’s Comprehensive Construction Headquarters, said, “We are doing our best to prevent traffic accidents caused by potholes that suddenly appear during rainy or nighttime driving,” and added, “We will continue to strive to create ‘roads safe for citizens.’”