Incheon City requested active policy and budget support from the government on major transportation issues, including the Incheon-origin KTX and congestion road improvements from Gongdan Overpass to Seo-Incheon IC.
On the 16th, the city asked for the reflection of 10 issues in the national higher-level plans and next year's government budget proposal at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport budget consultation meeting chaired by the 1st Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
At the meeting, Park Deok-su, Deputy Mayor of Incheon, requested national funding and government plan inclusion for the Incheon-origin KTX construction (total project cost 510.8 billion KRW), Metropolitan Area Express Railway (GTX)-B line construction (6.4005 trillion KRW), Seoul Line 7 Cheongna extension construction (1.5828 trillion KRW), Gyeongin Expressway underground construction (1.7352 trillion KRW), congestion road improvement from Gongdan Overpass to Seo-Incheon IC (612.3 billion KRW), Incheon Lines 1 and 2 integrated railway wireless network construction (37.2 billion KRW), low-floor bus introduction support (70.4 billion KRW), and Gyeyang area bus garage (21.8 billion KRW).
The Incheon-origin KTX project connects a 3.19 km section between Suin Line and KTX Gyeongbu Line at Eocheon, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to reduce inconvenience for Incheon citizens who currently have to travel to Seoul or Gwangmyeong to use KTX trains. Upon opening, it is expected to take 2 hours and 20 minutes from Suin Line Songdo Station to Busan, and 2 hours and 10 minutes to Mokpo.
The city requested steady support of 18 billion KRW in national funds and 137.9 billion KRW in national railway space project funds to ensure the project opens next year as per the plan change approval granted last December.
The GTX-B line, targeted to open in 2030, is a project connecting 82.8 km from Songdo Incheon National University Station to Namyangju Maseok Station. Upon opening, it is expected to take 23 minutes from Songdo to Yeouido and 29 minutes to Seoul Station.
The congestion road improvement project from Gongdan Overpass to Seo-Incheon IC aims to alleviate congestion around the area and generalize Incheon-daero by constructing an underground road. The city requested 47.1 billion KRW in national funds next year to expedite the project through a turnkey design and construction bidding method.
Additionally, Deputy Mayor Park met with the directors of the Railway Bureau and Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to explain and request cooperation on the timely 2025 opening of the Incheon-origin KTX connection, GTX-B construction consultations, promotion of Section 2 of the Metropolitan Area 2nd Ring Road (Ansan~Incheon), and the construction project of the Seo-chang~Gimpo highway (private investment).
Deputy Mayor Park said, "We will actively communicate and consult with the government to ensure that the city's opinions are reflected as much as possible in the promotion of major issues."
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