Seocho-gu, New Crosswalk Installed in Front of Exit 13-14 at Gyodae Station

Gu installs crosswalk in front of Exit 13-14 of Gyodae Station for the first time in 8 years, officially opened late last year to ease pedestrian inconvenience... Residents who had to detour about 500m between Gyodae Station Intersection and Gyodae Back Gate now benefit from improved mobility and reduced jaywalking, expected to prevent traffic accidents
Jeon Seong-su, Gu Mayor, “We will continue to promote various projects to make Seocho a pedestrian-friendly city”

Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) has officially opened a pedestrian crossing in front of exits 13 and 14 of Gyodae Station, fulfilling a long-standing wish of the residents of Seocho-dong.

Until now, residents had to detour about 500 meters to use a pedestrian crossing or use the underground passage at Gyodae Station to cross Seochojungang-ro between Gyodae Intersection and the back gate of Seoul National University of Education. The area has a large floating population due to various institutions and commercial facilities such as Seoul National University of Education nearby, and there are also senior citizen facilities like the Senior Welfare Center and Welfare Center, resulting in many elderly pedestrians.

Considering this, the district has been in continuous consultation with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul City for eight years since the first request from residents in 2015 to install the pedestrian crossing.

However, Seochojungang-ro, the road in question, has a high vehicle traffic volume of about 3,000 vehicles per hour, and there were concerns that the signal loss caused by the new pedestrian crossing could worsen traffic congestion, so it did not pass the traffic review by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

In response, the district actively persuaded the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul City with the opinion that installing the pedestrian crossing was essential to improve mobility for vulnerable road users such as the elderly and to prevent traffic accidents. Through several rounds of consultations, a consensus was reached, and in March 2021, it successfully passed the traffic review by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The pedestrian crossing installation was carried out starting in October with a budget support of 230 million KRW from the 2023 Seoul City budget, and Seoul Metropolitan Council members Ko Gwang-min and Lee Jong-bae provided multifaceted support, including securing the budget for this project.

Meanwhile, besides the new pedestrian crossing, the district has steadily promoted safety facility installation projects to create a safe traffic environment for everyone by newly installing a total of 19 pedestrian crossings over the past five years, including opening the Seocho Station Intersection pedestrian crossing in December 2022 after 12 years.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “I am pleased that we can provide more convenience for residents to walk with the opening of the pedestrian crossing in front of exits 13 and 14 of Gyodae Station, which was a long-standing wish of the residents,” and added, “We will continue to promote various projects to make Seocho a pedestrian-friendly city.”