Partial Lift of Daegu Jungang-ro Public Transport-Only Zone After 14 Years... 0.45 km Vehicle Traffic Allowed

Effective from November 1, the southern 0.6 km will be maintained

Daegu City announced on the 29th that starting November 1, a portion of the Jungang-ro public transportation-only zone in Jung-gu, Daegu will be lifted from the public transportation-only designation.

The section to be lifted from the public transportation-only zone this time is the northern side of Jungang-ro, from Daegu Station Intersection to Jungang Intersection, a 0.45 km section within the entire 1.05 km stretch from Banwoldang to Daegu Station.

Until now, vehicle traffic was restricted except for city buses, but with this measure, all vehicles will be allowed to pass. The southern section of Jungang-ro, from Banwoldang to Jungang Intersection, 0.6 km, will remain as is.

Section of the north road of Jungang-ro in Daegu city being released from the exclusive public transportation zone.

The background for partially lifting the Jungang-ro public transportation-only zone in downtown Daegu is that since the designation of the public transportation-only zone in 2009, the first of its kind in Korea, there have been positive evaluations such as increased floating population, increased city bus ridership, and improved pedestrian environment. However, after 14 years of implementation, there has been a growing demand for a comprehensive review of the zone due to changes in the traffic environment caused by active reconstruction and redevelopment around Taepyeong-ro and the economic downturn in Dongseong-ro.

Similar reasons have been reflected in the suspension or temporary lifting of public transportation-only zones in other cities such as Seoul’s Yonsei-ro and Busan’s Dongcheon-ro, which are currently not in operation.

Considering that lifting the entire public transportation-only zone would increase through traffic between the north and south sides of Jungang-ro (Taepyeong-ro to Dalgubeol-daero) and that current road conditions would make traffic management difficult, it was decided to maintain the public transportation-only zone on the southern road of Jungang-ro and allow general vehicle traffic only on the northern road section (based on Jungang Intersection).

This decision took into account the need to disperse traffic volume generated by development projects around adjacent Taepyeong-ro and the fact that the northern road is formed by small-scale commercial districts with about half the city bus ridership and floating population compared to the southern road, where the economic downturn is severe.

Since the partial lifting of the public transportation-only zone on Jungang-ro (a two-lane road) will be implemented without road expansion, to address concerns such as traffic congestion and inconvenience to city bus users, traffic signals at three intersections will be adjusted to reduce vehicle traffic towards Jungang-ro by prohibiting left turns (2 locations) and straight movement (1 location) for vehicles other than city buses.

Additionally, three CCTV cameras for illegal parking enforcement will be installed to strictly crack down on vehicles obstructing Jungang-ro traffic due to illegal parking. The left turn prohibitions are at Central R→Daegu Station R and Daegu Station R→Central R, and the straight movement prohibition is at Daegu Station R→Central R.

For the remaining southern road section of Jungang-ro (Banwoldang to Jungang Intersection, L=0.6 km) and the northern road section where the public transportation-only zone is lifted (Daegu Station Intersection to Jungang Intersection), continuous monitoring and supplementary measures will be prepared in collaboration with related organizations such as the police, Jung-gu Office, and the Road Traffic Authority to minimize inconvenience to citizens caused by changing traffic conditions.

Kim Daeyoung, Director of the Daegu City Transportation Bureau, said, “Allowing general vehicle traffic from Daegu Station Intersection to Jungang Intersection, which is being promoted along with the Dongseong-ro Renaissance Project, is expected to revitalize the downtown area and contribute to the activation of the depressed commercial districts in Dongseong-ro.”