Gyeonggi-do Designates 181 'Focused Management Roads' to Reduce Re-suspended Dust

A water truck is spraying water on the intensive management road to remove re-scattered dust.

Gyeonggi Province will designate and operate 181 road sections (611 km) within the province as intensive management roads until March 31 next year to reduce 'road re-scattered dust.'

Road re-scattered dust refers to particulate matter that is re-suspended into the atmosphere by vehicle movement and other factors from dust accumulated on the road surface. In particular, road re-scattered dust accounts for the largest proportion (20%) of fine dust emissions in Gyeonggi Province, making it necessary to select and manage intensive management roads during periods of high fine dust concentration.

Intensive management roads are selected by each city and county considering factors such as vehicle traffic volume, road fine dust standards, proximity to intensive management zones (16 locations designated in 11 cities and counties), and exposure. The 181 sections include ▲ Bongyeong-ro in Suwon City (from Yeongtong Overpass Intersection to Salgugol Intersection) ▲ Geumryeong-ro in Yongin City (from Tongil Park Intersection to Mapyeong Intersection) ▲ Bundang-ro in Seongnam City (from Seohyeon Bridge Intersection to Bundang St. John’s Cathedral), among others.

During the fine dust seasonal management period, road cleaning on intensive management roads will be increased to more than twice a day, and during high-concentration fine dust emergency reduction measures, it will be strengthened to 3 to 4 times a day.

A total of 570 vehicles, including high-pressure water trucks, vacuum road surface vehicles, and dust suction vehicles, will be mobilized for road cleaning. When the temperature is below 5℃, the operation of water trucks or the application of wet methods will be excluded due to concerns about road freezing.

According to the Korea Environment Corporation, a comparison of fine dust (PM-10) concentration measurements before and after road cleaning on 21 road sections in the province using a road re-scattered dust mobile measurement vehicle showed an average reduction of 53% (from 109 to 51 μg/m³) after road cleaning compared to before.

Cha Seong-su, Director of the Climate Environment and Energy Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "By carefully monitoring and thoroughly implementing routine administrative tasks such as intensive management of road re-scattered dust, we will ensure that the 5th fine dust seasonal management achieves its intended results."