Congestion expected to clear around 2-3 a.m. Sunday

Vehicles travel along the inbound and outbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. [Yonhap]
Vehicles travel along the inbound and outbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. [Yonhap]

Heavy congestion gripped expressways across the country on Saturday afternoon, the third day of the Chuseok holiday, though traffic began easing after 4 to 5 p.m.

As of 6 p.m., estimated travel times from major cities to the Seoul tollgate stood at 5 hours 40 minutes from Busan, 5 hours 20 minutes from Ulsan, 5 hours 20 minutes from Mokpo, 5 hours from Gwangju, 4 hours 40 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours 10 minutes from Gangneung and 2 hours 50 minutes from Daejeon, according to the Korea Expressway Corporation.

By segment, congestion was reported on a 17-kilometer stretch of the Gyeongbu Line toward Seoul between Cheongju and the Cheongju rest area, a 28-kilometer section of the Nonsan-Cheonan Line toward Cheonan between the Jeongan rest area and the Cheonan junction, and a 16-kilometer stretch of the Seoul-Yangyang Line toward Seoul between the Yangyang junction and the Inje Tunnel.

Traffic was also moving slowly on a 21-kilometer section of the West Coast Expressway toward Seoul between Dangjin and the Poseung junction, a 10-kilometer stretch of the Yeongdong Line toward Incheon between Pyeongchang and the Dunae Tunnel, and a 16-kilometer section of the Jungbu Naeryuk Line toward Yangpyeong between the Chungju junction and the Yeoju junction.

The Korea Expressway Corporation forecast that return traffic congestion would persist before clearing around 2 to 3 a.m. Sunday.

Outbound traffic heading away from Seoul remained comparatively light. Travel times from Seoul to major cities were 4 hours 30 minutes to Busan, 4 hours 10 minutes to Ulsan, 3 hours 40 minutes to Mokpo, 3 hours 20 minutes to Gwangju, 3 hours 30 minutes to Daegu, 2 hours 40 minutes to Gangneung and 1 hour 30 minutes to Daejeon.

Total nationwide traffic volume was projected at around 5.9 million vehicles for the day. The corporation estimated that 380,000 vehicles would travel from the Greater Seoul area to regional cities, while 520,000 would make the return trip from regional areas to Greater Seoul.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com