Korea Expressway Corporation President Yu Jeong-hun (seventh from left) and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Second Vice Minister Hong Ji-seon (sixth from left) pose with other attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jecheon-Yeongwol Expressway construction project, held Tuesday at the indoor gymnasium of Yeongwol Sports Park. [Korea Expressway Corporation]
Korea Expressway Corporation President Yu Jeong-hun (seventh from left) and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Second Vice Minister Hong Ji-seon (sixth from left) pose with other attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jecheon-Yeongwol Expressway construction project, held Tuesday at the indoor gymnasium of Yeongwol Sports Park. [Korea Expressway Corporation]

Korea Expressway Corporation held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the Jecheon-Yeongwol Expressway construction project at the indoor gymnasium of Yeongwol Sports Park in Gangwon Province.

The project will build a four-lane expressway stretching 29.92 kilometers — from Jecheon Junction to South Yeongwol Interchange, with a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour — linking Geumseong-myeon in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, through Danyang-gun to Yeongwol-gun in Gangwon Province. The total investment stands at 1.9975 trillion won ($1.35 billion), with construction beginning across five sections this year and full completion targeted by the end of 2032.

Once open, the expressway will cut the travel distance between Jecheon and Yeongwol from 45 kilometers to 29.9 kilometers — a reduction of 15.1 kilometers — and shorten travel time by about 22.7 minutes.

Korea Expressway Corporation said the new east-west road link will significantly improve access to the North Chungcheong and southern Gangwon regions, which have long been underserved by transport infrastructure, and is expected to boost tourism in Jecheon, Danyang and Yeongwol. The expressway will also connect with the Pyeongtaek-Jecheon Expressway to improve operational efficiency and ease east-west traffic on the Yeongdong Expressway, generating an estimated 44.8 billion won in annual social benefits — comprising 7.7 billion won in vehicle operating cost savings, 33.3 billion won in travel time savings, 1.4 billion won in traffic accident cost reductions and 2.4 billion won in environmental cost savings.

In addition, Korea Expressway Corporation plans to work closely with the government to advance the remaining Yeongwol-Samcheok Expressway segment — currently undergoing a feasibility assessment — to complete the transport corridor linking the west and east coasts.

"The Jecheon-Yeongwol Expressway is a key route on the sixth east-west axis of the national arterial road network and will serve as a path toward regional coexistence and balanced development," Korea Expressway Corporation President Yu Jeong-hun said. "We will build a world-class expressway that puts safety and quality first and lives up to the public's expectations."

Meanwhile, Korea Expressway Corporation plans to launch a highway traffic safety information service in partnership with Kakao Navi starting Friday. The service will combine the corporation's expressway traffic safety data with Kakao Navi's private-sector data to deliver real-time accident alerts to drivers.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com