On April 30, Pocheon City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Younghyeon) announced that the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway construction project has been officially selected as a candidate for the preliminary feasibility study by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance held the fourth Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee meeting for 2025 and selected five projects, including the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway, as candidates for the preliminary feasibility study.
The Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway construction project is a long-awaited initiative for the northern Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions. The project aims to extend the existing Sejong-Pocheon Expressway by approximately 24 kilometers from Sinbuk-myeon in Pocheon City, which is the current terminus, to the vicinity of Cheorwon County. This project was previously included in the Second Expressway Construction Plan (2021-2025).
Pocheon City and Cheorwon County signed a memorandum of understanding in 2022 to expedite the construction of the expressway and launched a signature campaign. The two cities collected 330,000 signatures and submitted them to relevant organizations such as the National Assembly and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, continuously emphasizing the necessity of the project and making every effort to promote balanced development in the northern metropolitan area.
As a result, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted a preliminary feasibility study service for the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway construction project until July last year and applied to the Ministry of Economy and Finance for its inclusion as a candidate for the preliminary feasibility study.
Consequently, the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway construction project has been selected as a final candidate for the preliminary feasibility study, allowing the project to proceed in a timely manner.
Going forward, if the project's feasibility is confirmed through the Ministry of Economy and Finance's preliminary feasibility study?which comprehensively evaluates economic viability, policy analysis, and regional balanced development?the project will move forward in earnest, progressing through the feasibility study, basic design, and detailed design stages.
Baek Younghyeon, Mayor of Pocheon City, stated, "The selection of this project as a candidate for the preliminary feasibility study marks the starting point for the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway construction." He added, "We will actively cooperate with members of the National Assembly, Gyeonggi Province, and Cheorwon County to ensure the project passes the preliminary feasibility study, and we will make every effort to ensure the rapid realization of the Pocheon-Cheorwon Expressway construction."
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