Busan City and Hyundai Construction Sign Implementation Agreement for Seunghak Tunnel Private Investment Project

Agreement on Private Investment Project for Seunghak Tunnel between City Hall and Si-Hyundai Construction at 10 AM on the 1st

Construction Starts in Second Half of 2024 → Opening Ahead of Gadeokdo New Airport Launch in Second Half of 2029

Busan City will hold a signing ceremony for the "Seunghak Tunnel Private Investment Project" implementation agreement at 10 a.m. on the 1st in the International Protocol Room on the 7th floor of City Hall.

Location map of Seunghak Tunnel.

At the signing ceremony, Mayor Park Hyung-jun and Hyundai Construction President Yoon Young-jun will attend to sign the implementation agreement, the final step of the "Seunghak Tunnel Private Investment Project" agreement. Through this signing, the designation of the project operator and the commencement of detailed design are expected to accelerate the full-scale project promotion.

The "Seunghak Tunnel Private Investment Project," connecting Eomgung-dong in Sasang-gu and Jungang-dong (Chungjang-daero) in Jung-gu, was first proposed by the Hyundai Construction consortium in May 2016. After going through various administrative procedures, it passed the Ministry of Strategy and Finance's Private Investment Project Review Committee in March.

Additionally, after reporting to the City Council in April, the project operator will be designated and the detailed design service will commence by signing the implementation agreement, the final stage procedure, in June.

The "Seunghak Tunnel Private Investment Project," based on the BTO method, has a total length of 7.69 km and a four-lane (two lanes each way) scale. The construction period is five years, and the operation period is 30 years. To reduce the burden on citizens, the toll fee was decided at 1,500 KRW (based on the fixed price in March 2016), which is 95 KRW less than the third-party proposal of 1,595 KRW for passenger cars.

"BTO" refers to a method where a private business directly constructs a facility, transfers ownership to the government or others, and then operates the facility for a certain period to earn revenue.

Once the Seunghak Tunnel, an access road network for the 2030 Busan World Expo, opens, the travel time from Bukhang to Gadeokdo New Airport (during peak hours) will be reduced from the current one hour to 40 minutes, shortening by about 20 minutes and greatly improving accessibility to Gadeokdo New Airport.

The city plans to complete the detailed design of the Seunghak Tunnel by the first half of 2024 for the successful hosting and attraction of the 2030 Busan World Expo, start construction in the second half of 2024, and ensure the tunnel opens before the opening of Gadeokdo New Airport in 2029.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, "The Seunghak Tunnel construction project will play a significant role not only in driving balanced east-west development between the old downtown and the western Busan area but also in alleviating induced traffic from the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport, Bukhang redevelopment, and the hosting of the 2030 Busan World Expo." He added, "With the opening of Gadeokdo New Airport in 2029 and the opening of the Seunghak Tunnel access road network, we will make every effort to attract and successfully host the 2030 Busan World Expo."