Pilot project aims to curb illegal parking and prevent traffic accidents; project timeline cut to under one year

Trucks parked on a road. This image is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]
Trucks parked on a road. This image is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Tuesday it is launching a pilot project to build public truck depots on idle expressway land, as the government, local authorities and public institutions join forces to address traffic safety hazards and public complaints caused by illegal truck parking in urban areas.

The ministry plans to sign an MOU at the Government Sejong Complex on Tuesday to launch the "public-private-government collaborative public truck depot pilot project."

Nine organizations spanning the public, private and civic sectors are taking part in the signing ceremony: the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Korea Expressway Corporation, which will provide the land; five local governments that will build the depots — Busan, Daejeon, Yangju in Gyeonggi Province, Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang Province and Changnyeong-gun in South Gyeongsang Province; the Freight Welfare Foundation, responsible for installing amenities; and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Cargo Solidarity, which will promote the pilot project and support drivers.

Traffic accidents and public complaints stemming from illegally parked large trucks in urban areas have persisted. In response, the ministry developed a new collaborative model that uses idle expressway land owned by Korea Expressway Corporation to build public depots more quickly and efficiently.

Although the need to expand public truck depots has long been recognized, supply has been difficult to increase. Local opposition to depots — widely regarded as unwanted facilities — combined with difficulties local governments face in securing land and budgets, and complex licensing procedures, have meant that projects typically take three to four years from start to completion.

The pilot project uses idle expressway land owned by Korea Expressway Corporation — including interchanges, junction sections, tollgates and frontage roads — located on the outskirts of urban areas, minimizing complaints about illegal parking near residential neighborhoods. Because construction can begin with only administrative procedures such as road occupancy permits, the project timeline can be cut from three to four years to under one year.

The approach also eliminates land acquisition costs, which typically account for about 40 percent of total depot construction expenses, significantly reducing the fiscal burden on local governments.

The ministry said it will develop a long-term road map to expand truck parking capacity on idle expressway land nationwide. The initiative is expected to guarantee rest and leisure time for truck drivers and help prevent serious traffic accidents caused by illegal parking and overnight parking on roads.

Shim Ji-young, the ministry's logistics policy director, called the MOU "a meaningful example of cooperation in which the government, local governments, public institutions, Cargo Solidarity and the Freight Welfare Foundation have all come together to tackle the persistent problem of illegal truck parking in urban areas." She added that the ministry would closely analyze the pilot project's results by year-end and hold briefings for other local governments, with the aim of rapidly expanding public truck depots across the national expressway network.

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning a 14-ton truck rear-ended a 9-ton truck that had broken down and stopped in the second lane of the Hwado-bound Woon-su Tunnel on the Second Beltway Expressway in Sudong-myeon, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.


hss@heraldcorp.com