Major Seoul roads including Olympic-daero and Gangbyeon-buk-ro also congested

Vehicles back up on the southbound Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]
Vehicles back up on the southbound Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]

Traffic congestion persisted across expressways throughout the afternoon on Friday, the Chuseok holiday.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, estimated travel times from the Seoul tollgate to major cities as of 2 p.m. were: 7 hours 20 minutes to Busan, 6 hours to Mokpo, 7 hours 20 minutes to Ulsan, 6 hours 40 minutes to Daegu, 5 hours 40 minutes to Gwangju, 4 hours 20 minutes to Gangneung and 3 hours 50 minutes to Daejeon.

Estimated travel times from those cities back to Seoul were: 8 hours 10 minutes from Busan, 7 hours 10 minutes from Mokpo, 7 hours 50 minutes from Ulsan, 7 hours 10 minutes from Daegu, 6 hours 40 minutes from Gwangju, 4 hours 10 minutes from Gangneung and 4 hours 30 minutes from Daejeon.

Compared with the morning, estimated travel times for outbound trips fell by up to an hour, while inbound times to Seoul increased.

On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Seoul, congestion was reported over an 18-kilometer stretch from near Buk-Cheonan to near the Anseong rest area, and along a 10-kilometer section from Dallaenae to Banpo.

In the direction of Busan, traffic was backed up for 10 kilometers between Hoedeok Junction and Biryong Junction, and for 18 kilometers from near the Manghyang rest area to near the Cheonan Walnut rest area.

On the Seoul-Yangyang Expressway, a 14-kilometer section near Deokso-Sampae toward Yangyang and a 12-kilometer stretch near Seojon toward Seoul were moving slowly. On the Gwangju-Daegu Expressway, a 21-kilometer section from near the Nongong rest area to near Haeinsa was congested toward Gwangju, while the Gwangju-Wonju Expressway saw a 10-kilometer backup from Dongyang-pyeong to Seo-Wonju toward Wonju.

Major roads within Seoul were also congested. On Olympic-daero, inbound lanes were backed up from the southern end of Dongho Bridge to the southern end of Banghwa Bridge, while outbound lanes were slow from the southern end of Haengju Bridge to the southern end of Banghwa Bridge and from the southern end of Yanghwa Bridge to Yeouisangnyu IC.

On Gangbyeon-buk-ro, inbound traffic was congested and moving slowly between the eastern entrance of Topyeong IC and Topyeong Intersection, and from the northern end of Jamsil Bridge to the northern end of Gayang Bridge. Outbound lanes were crawling from the northern end of Gayang Bridge to the northern end of Yanghwa Bridge, from the northern end of Seogang Bridge to the northern end of Hangang Bridge, and from Topyeong Intersection to the eastern entrance of Topyeong IC.

The Korea Expressway Corporation forecast that outbound congestion would peak around 1 to 2 p.m. Friday and ease by 7 to 8 p.m.

Inbound traffic toward Seoul was expected to be heaviest between 3 and 5 p.m., with congestion projected to clear around 2 to 3 a.m. Saturday.

Total vehicle traffic nationwide was forecast at approximately 6.84 million for the day. The corporation estimated that about 470,000 vehicles would travel from the Greater Seoul area to regional destinations, while about 460,000 would make the return trip from the regions to Greater Seoul.


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