Traffic congestion in Jeju City by times rivals that of much larger cities. Local authorities are speeding up construction of new roads in the hopes of easing the problem. Joseph Kim reports.



Report

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Yeon-dong, Jeju City

This is (일주도로) Iljudo-ro, the road that links the eastern and western parts of Jeju City.

It’s not uncommon for it to be busy, with cars backed up for hundreds of metres.

Especially on days when the five-day market is on, the road is clogged with traffic.

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Roads near airport clogged with traffic

And during the tourism high season, the traffic only gets worse.

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Bypass construction underway

The provincial administration greenlighted the construction of a bypass near the airport last year. It began construction in May this year and the work is speeding up.


The six-lane bypass starts at (다호) Daho Village near the airport and passes the Jeju City Traditional Five-Day Market before connecting with the (일주) Ilju Road.

The new road will be 2.2 kilometers long.

Two overpasses are planned near the airport and the five-day market to ease traffic flow.


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Construction to be completed early

The province moved up the schedule of the construction completion from late 2018 to the first half of next year.

INTERVIEW
Baek Gwang-sik / Director, Jeju City dept. of construction
New roads connecting the airport and the Ilju Road will be paved first. We’re now negotiating work plans for overpasses with Seoul.
< 백광식 / 제주시 도시건설국장 >
공항 입구에서 지방도 연결하는 도로를 우선 1차 개통하고, 입체교차로 (고가도로)는 예산이 수반되기 때문에 중앙부처와 협의하면서...

Along with the creation of new roads in the western part of the island, existing roads will be extended in the eastern part.


(연북로) Yeonbukro Road currently ends at the three-way intersection of (번영로) Beonyeong-ro but will be extended for 2 kilometers to connect the (삼화) Samhwa residential area. The newly extended road will be 6 lanes.


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Land purchases nearing completion

78 percent of land expropriation for the construction has been paid out.

An additional 30 billion won will be used to buy up the remaining land.

Design for the extension of (연북로) Yeonbuk-ro will be done by the end of this year and the construction will start next year.

The construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2020.

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Kim Seung-cheol

Meanwhile, construction for (애조로) Aejoro Road that connects (애월읍) Aewol-eup and (조천읍) Jocheon-eup will be completed in 2021.

The new roads across the island are expected to bring some relief to traffic flows in Jeju City.

Joseph Kim, KCTV