Installation of 70 Protective Fences and 73 Smart Safety Facilities
The number of protection zones for vulnerable road users such as children, the elderly, and people with disabilities in Seoul will increase by 50. Additional smart facilities will also be installed, including protective fences for pedestrians and systems that automatically extend green signals when pedestrians cannot cross the entire crosswalk in time.
The city announced the '2025 Comprehensive Management Plan for Protection Zones' on the 17th, which includes comprehensive measures to prevent accidents within protection zones and create a safe and convenient walking environment.
First, the pedestrian environment will be intensively improved to physically separate vehicles and pedestrians. Among the existing designated protection zones, 50 locations will prevent accidents by expanding sidewalks and creating pedestrian paths. Roads with a width of 8 meters or more will have sidewalks with height differences, while roads less than 8 meters wide or where height differences are not feasible will have different colors or pavement materials applied.
Fifty new protection zones will also be designated around facilities used by vulnerable road users. These will be implemented in a timely manner by comprehensively considering movement routes, traffic accidents, and timing.
Additionally, traffic safety facilities will be expanded to enhance pedestrian safety. Seventy protective fences and ninety yellow carpets to increase awareness of child protection zones will be newly installed, and forty locations requiring crosswalk improvements will have yellow crosswalks replaced or added. Four hundred fifty driver recognition facilities, such as speed limit signs and start/end point road markings, will also be installed.
Seventy-three locations will be equipped with 'smart safety facilities' incorporating new technologies. These include thirty-five voice-guided auxiliary signal devices that emit warning sounds to jaywalking pedestrians and eight pedestrian signal time extension systems that automatically extend crossing time if vulnerable road users cannot cross within the green light period.
To enhance the effectiveness of the established protection zones, efforts will also be made to eradicate illegal parking. Special crackdowns will be conducted in child protection zones during the school opening season when child pedestrian traffic increases. One hundred twenty additional speed enforcement cameras will be installed in protection zones, and six hundred eighty-two traffic safety instructors will be deployed to accompany lower-grade elementary school students on their way to and from school.
Yeo Jang-kwon, Director of the Seoul Transportation Office, emphasized, "Seoul prioritizes the safety of vulnerable road users and will continuously improve the pedestrian environment within protection zones. We ask for careful attention to ensure safety when passing through protection zones designated for vulnerable road users."
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