'Student Safety First'... Mapo-gu Improves School Routes Around Seoul Girls' Middle and High Schools

Adjusting Speed Bump Heights to Slow Vehicles, Enhancing Safety with Sidewalks and Bollards
Mapo-gu Strengthens Safety by Installing Traffic Lights at Unsignalized Crosswalks through Ongoing Coordination with Police Station

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) is receiving positive feedback from students and parents by improving the school routes around Seoul Girls' Middle School and Seoul Girls' High School to ensure students' safe commuting.

The school route around Seoul Girls' Middle and High Schools is a two-lane road extending to the vicinity of Dongdo Middle School, where severe traffic congestion during commuting hours coincides with rush hours, posing a threat to students' commute.

Additionally, the sidewalks were narrow, and there were no traffic lights at crosswalks, increasing the risk of traffic accidents.

Accordingly, on July 25, 2024, Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, and related department staff visited the site to inspect the school route situation around Seoul Girls' Middle and High Schools and discuss improvement measures.

Mapo-gu conducted boundary restoration surveying for the improvement construction in August and adjusted the height of four speed bumps to ensure vehicles slow down to below 30 km/h in front of the school.

During this process, some vehicle drivers raised objections, but Mapo-gu resolved the complaints through active understanding and persuasion, enabling the creation of a safe traffic environment.

Furthermore, in September, new sidewalks were installed and painted in highly visible colors to distinguish them from the roadway.

Along with this, three U-shaped bollards were installed to prevent illegal parking and secure pedestrian safety to prevent traffic accidents.

The issue of signal-free crosswalks without traffic lights was also resolved. Mapo-gu held continuous consultations with the police station to install traffic lights.

As a result, on September 30, 2024, the review for traffic light installation passed at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and on October 31, traffic lights were installed at the crosswalk in front of the school.

Lee Kyung-mi, the parent chairperson of Seoul Girls' High School, said, “It is very surprising that the walking environment was quickly improved after Mapo-gu assessed the passageway situation on-site last July,” adding, “I am sincerely grateful that they are even installing ground-level traffic lights for the safety of students who leave school late due to night self-study.”

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, stated, “We are doing our best to create an environment where students can commute with peace of mind,” and added, “Mapo-gu will continue to monitor school routes in the area and spare no administrative effort to create pedestrian-centered road environments.”