Congestion on the Way Back Home Is Gradually Easing
Expected to Clear Around 1 to 2 a.m.
On the afternoon of the 29th, Lunar New Year's Day, the return traffic continued, causing severe congestion on highways nationwide heading toward the Seoul metropolitan area. However, major highways in the direction of outbound travel showed somewhat eased congestion.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5 p.m. that day, the estimated travel times from the Seoul tollgate to major cities nationwide were 5 hours 20 minutes to Busan, 5 hours 10 minutes to Ulsan, 4 hours 20 minutes to Daegu, 4 hours 10 minutes to Mokpo, 4 hours to Gwangju, 2 hours 40 minutes to Gangneung, and 2 hours 20 minutes to Daejeon.
Compared to around 9 a.m. that day, the estimated travel times in the outbound direction decreased by about 30 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes, indicating much smoother traffic flow.
On the other hand, the estimated travel times from regional tollgates to the Seoul tollgate were 7 hours 20 minutes from Busan, 7 hours from Mokpo, 6 hours 50 minutes from Ulsan, 6 hours 20 minutes from Daegu, 5 hours 50 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours 40 minutes from Gangneung, and 3 hours 30 minutes from Daejeon, showing more severe congestion than in the morning.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Seoul, vehicles are congested in the following sections: 8 km from Dallaenae area to Banpo, 5 km from Suwon area to Singal Junction, 32 km from Cheonan Junction to Anseong Junction, 14 km near Cheongju at Cheongju Rest Area, 30 km from Okcheon area to Namcheongju, 10 km from Yeongdong to Yeongdong 1 Terminal, 5 km near Kumho Junction to Chilgok Junction, 2 km near Dodong Junction, 3 km from Geoncheon to Gyeongju Tunnel, and 7 km from Yangsan Junction to Yangsan area.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan, vehicles are repeatedly stopping and going in these sections: 2 km from Singal Junction to Suwon, 37 km near Cheonan Rest Area to Sintanjin area, 5 km near Chilgok Rest Area to Waegwan area, 2 km near Yeongcheon Junction, 10 km from Gyeongju area to Hwalcheon area, 5 km near Eonyang Junction to Seoul-san area, and 14 km from Seoulju Junction to Yangsan area.
On the Jungbu Expressway heading toward Hanam, congestion occurs in these sections: 6 km near Jungbu 3 Tunnel to Jungbu 1 Tunnel, 10 km from Iljuk area to Moga, 16 km from Ochang Rest Area to Jincheon area, and 8 km from Nami Junction to Seo-cheongju area. In the direction toward Nami, vehicles are slow in the 4 km section near Jincheon to Jincheon Tunnel and the 18 km section from Ochang Rest Area to Nami Junction.
On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Seoul, congestion occurs in the following sections: 6 km from Gwangmyeong Station to Geumcheon, 5 km from Bibong to Yongdam Tunnel, 12 km near Seopyeongtaek Junction to Hwaseong Rest Area, 28 km near Dangjin Junction to Seopyeongtaek, 11 km near Muchangpo to Daecheon Rest Area, 5 km from Bi Tunnel to Chunjangdae area, 2 km from Seocheon to Jongcheon Tunnel, 12 km near Dong Gunsan to Dong Seocheon Junction, 4 km around Buan area, and 12 km near Gochang Junction to Gochang.
On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Mokpo, slow traffic flow is observed in the 3 km section from Seo Seoul Tollgate to Sunsan Tunnel area.
The Korea Expressway Corporation forecasted that despite very heavy congestion in both directions, the outbound traffic would peak around 2 to 3 p.m. and clear up between 11 p.m. and midnight. The return traffic peaked around 4 to 5 p.m. and is expected to ease between 1 and 2 a.m. on the 30th. The corporation anticipated that 3.8 million vehicles would move from the metropolitan area to provinces and 5.7 million vehicles from provinces to the metropolitan area, totaling 6.39 million vehicles traveling nationwide.
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