On the sixth day of the Chuseok holiday, October 8, major expressways across the country were generally flowing smoothly in the afternoon, although some sections on the way back to Seoul experienced congestion.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 6:00 p.m. on this day, the estimated travel times from major city tollgates nationwide to Seoul were as follows: Busan 5 hours 10 minutes, Ulsan 4 hours 50 minutes, Mokpo 4 hours 40 minutes, Gwangju 4 hours 20 minutes, Daegu 4 hours 10 minutes, Gangneung 3 hours 50 minutes, Yangyang 3 hours 30 minutes, and Daejeon 2 hours 50 minutes.
The estimated travel times from Seoul to each city were: Busan 4 hours 30 minutes, Ulsan 4 hours 10 minutes, Mokpo 3 hours 40 minutes, Daegu 3 hours 30 minutes, Gwangju 3 hours 20 minutes, Gangneung 2 hours 40 minutes, and Daejeon 1 hour 36 minutes.
On the Seoul-bound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway, congestion was reported in several sections, including 7 kilometers near Dallaenae to Banpo, 2 kilometers at the Anseong Junction, 5 kilometers from Cheonan Samgeori to Cheonan, and 10 kilometers from Shintanjin to Namcheongju.
On the Busan-bound lanes, vehicles were moving slowly in some areas, such as 2 kilometers near Gyeongju to Hwalcheon and 6 kilometers from the area near Tongdosa to Seokgye.
Aside from these areas, traffic on most expressways was generally smooth.
The corporation projected that the total nationwide traffic volume for the day would reach 5.46 million vehicles, with 330,000 vehicles traveling from the Seoul metropolitan area to other regions and 320,000 vehicles moving from other regions to the Seoul metropolitan area.
The corporation anticipated that congestion would be concentrated on the Seoul-bound lanes due to returning and leisure travelers. Congestion toward Seoul was expected to peak between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and ease between 11:00 p.m. and midnight.
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