Some Sections Still Congested
Traffic Expected to Ease Between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.
On October 3, the first day of the Chuseok holiday, highways across the country experienced heavy traffic as people traveled to their hometowns. However, compared to the morning, traffic flow has improved, reducing the estimated travel times from Seoul to major cities.
According to Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5:00 p.m. on this day, the estimated travel times from the Seoul tollgate to major cities nationwide are as follows: Busan, 4 hours 50 minutes; Ulsan, 4 hours 20 minutes; Mokpo, 4 hours 10 minutes; Gwangju, 3 hours 30 minutes; Daegu, 3 hours 23 minutes; Gangneung, 2 hours 40 minutes; and Daejeon, 2 hours 10 minutes.
Conversely, the estimated travel times from each city to Seoul are: Busan, 4 hours 30 minutes; Ulsan, 4 hours 20 minutes; Mokpo, 4 hours; Gwangju and Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes; Gangneung, 2 hours 40 minutes; and Daejeon, 1 hour 40 minutes. Compared to the morning, travel times have decreased by about one to two hours, but some sections are still experiencing congestion.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan, traffic is increasing in the 9-kilometer section near Bukcheonan to Cheonan and the 25-kilometer stretch from near Oksan Service Area to Jukam Service Area. On the Seohaean Expressway toward Mokpo, congestion is occurring in the 12-kilometer section from Dangjin Junction to near Unsan Tunnel and the 7-kilometer section from near Dongseocheon Junction to near Gunsan. The Korea Expressway Corporation expects the traffic congestion on homebound routes to ease between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Traffic heading back to Seoul is expected to be relatively smooth. The Korea Expressway Corporation estimated that 5.24 million vehicles would be on the move nationwide today, with 440,000 vehicles traveling from the Seoul metropolitan area to other regions and 430,000 vehicles heading from other regions to the metropolitan area, resulting in heavier traffic than on a typical Friday.
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