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Busan Metropolitan City Opens Gwangandaegyo Bridge Access Road Link, Easing Chronic Traffic Congestion in the Haeundae Area

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold an opening ceremony for the “Gwangandaegyo Bridge Access Road Link Project” today (December 22) at 3:00 p.m. at Olympic Park in Haeundae-gu.

The ceremony will be attended by approximately 200 people, including Mayor Park, National Assembly members, the head of Haeundae District Office, city council members, project officials, and local residents. Following the ceremony, the road will officially open to traffic starting at 5:00 p.m. today.

The City has promoted the project to connect Haeundae New Town and Centum City, investing a total of KRW 41.2 billion entirely funded by the City from 2017 to 2025. Beginning with a feasibility study in 2017, the project proceeded through basic and detailed design phases from 2018 to 2019, and construction of the main project commenced in 2023. It was completed within three years as originally planned.

Despite primarily adopting nighttime construction and partial road closure methods to minimize inconvenience to citizens, the City successfully completed the project without delays to the construction schedule.

With the opening of the access road, travel time from Haeundae New Town to the Wondong Interchange (IC) is expected to be reduced by approximately 10 minutes. In addition, traffic congestion is expected to be alleviated by dispersing traffic volumes from chronically congested sections of Suyeong Riverside Road and Haeundae-ro.

According to the Comprehensive Traffic Impact Analysis, during the peak congestion period from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. after opening, the number of vehicles passing through Suyeong Riverside Road is projected to decrease by approximately 6,600 vehicles, from about 22,000 to 16,000 vehicles. As a result, road congestion levels are expected to be reduced by approximately 30 percent (%). Furthermore, the project is estimated to generate annual economic benefits of approximately KRW 3.6 billion through reduced travel time and lower vehicle operating costs.

In addition, with the full implementation of the Gwangandaegyo Bridge Smart Tolling System from February 1 this year, the upper and lower structures of the BEXCO tollgate were completely removed. Combined with the opening of the new access road, traffic flow in the Centum City area is expected to become even smoother.

Moreover, synergetic effects are anticipated through linkage with the “Mandeok–Centum Deep Underground Urban Expressway,” which is scheduled to open early next year.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the citizens who actively cooperated with traffic controls during the construction period.” He added, “With the opening of the Gwangandaegyo Bridge access road, chronic traffic congestion in the Haeundae area will be significantly alleviated, and improved access to Gwangandaegyo Bridge will greatly enhance convenience in citizens’ daily travel. Going forward, the City will continue to pursue policies across various areas to resolve traffic congestion.”