Busan is good

Reorganizing Road Space Along a Key East-West Busan Corridor to Strengthen Urban Competitiveness

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced today, September 11, that the Sasang-Haeundae Expressway project, the city’s second deep underground expressway, is expected to gain momentum following the Busan Metropolitan Council’s approval of a draft agreement concerning the future of the Dongseo Elevated Road.

The City and the preferred bidder discussed the procedures to be undertaken by the City, the scope and cost of demolition work, and other matters related to the Dongseo Elevated Road, and reflected the results in the draft agreement.

The draft agreement approved by the Busan Metropolitan Council will be submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, after which follow-up procedures, including the implementation agreement, will proceed in phases. Accordingly, the Sasang-Haeundae Expressway project is expected to enter the full-scale implementation stage.

Once the Sasang-Haeundae Expressway opens, travel times between eastern and western Busan will be dramatically reduced, while its role as a national trunk corridor connecting Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongsangnam-do will be strengthened.

The Sasang-Haeundae Expressway is a large-scale social overhead capital project that will connect the Namhae Expressway and the Donghae Expressway, establish an expressway economic belt linking the Changwon area, Busan, and the Pohang-Ulsan area, and create a one-hour living sphere across the Southeast Metropolitan Economic Region centered on Busan.

Upon opening, travel time from Gimhae International Airport in western Busan to eastern Busan is expected to fall from the current 83 minutes to 36 minutes, saving a total of 47 minutes and significantly improving accessibility.

The project is also expected to disperse traffic on major urban arterial roads, shorten travel times, improve logistics accessibility, and enhance the transport network providing access to Gadeokdo New Airport. Its benefits are therefore expected to extend beyond expanding the road network to improving Busan’s overall urban spatial structure and transportation system.

In particular, as the project is being implemented as part of the National Balanced Development Project, it is expected to make a significant contribution to revitalizing local economies throughout Busan.

Busan has a spatial structure in which western Busan, where industrial infrastructure is concentrated, is separated from eastern Busan, where tourism and business functions are concentrated.

By connecting the two areas through a high-speed arterial network, the Sasang-Haeundae Expressway is expected to provide a foundation for integrating eastern and western Busan into a single living and economic sphere. This will enhance the competitiveness of industrial complexes in western Busan, strengthen connections with the tourism and MICE industries in eastern Busan, and improve mobility between surrounding residential areas and business districts.

Beyond improving local transportation conditions, the project also holds significant symbolic importance because it will connect a missing link in the national ring expressway network, thereby improving the efficiency of the national logistics system and contributing to the revitalization of the broader southern regional economy.

The disconnected section of the national ring expressway network consists of the Busan Outer Ring Expressway, the Second Branch of the Namhae Expressway, the Sasang-Haeundae Expressway, and the Donghae Expressway.

With the Metropolitan Council’s approval, the City expects the expressway project to enter the full-scale implementation stage and plans to maintain close cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to ensure that the project proceeds without disruption.

During construction of the expressway, portions of the Dongseo Elevated Road near the starting and ending points are scheduled to be demolished. For the Hakjang-Jinyang section, either demolition or retention and conversion into park space may be considered depending on future policy decisions by the City.

The City plans to gather sufficient public input on the future of the Dongseo Elevated Road and develop a reasonable solution, placing the highest priority on regional development and improving citizens’ quality of life.

A full-scale review of options for the Dongseo Elevated Road is scheduled to begin at an appropriate time after the implementation agreement for the expressway has been finalized.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “We will work to ensure the smooth implementation of the Sasang-Haeundae Expressway, essential infrastructure for Busan’s future that will enable the city to compete with the Seoul metropolitan area and look ahead over the next 30 years. We will also do our utmost until the day transportation policies are fully realized that guarantee citizens’ mobility rights and help Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongsangnam-do develop into a single living sphere.”