Seongju-gun in North Gyeongsang Province joined a National Assembly policy seminar Monday aimed at securing a preliminary feasibility study approval for the long-sought Muju-Seongju-Daegu expressway and accelerating its construction.
The seminar, held at the third seminar room of the National Assembly members' office building, was co-hosted by lawmakers Ahn Ho-young, Jeong Hee-yong, Song Eon-seog and Lee Jin-suk, and jointly organized by North Jeolla Province, North Gyeongsang Province and the city of Daegu. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok attended and delivered congratulatory remarks.
Seongju-gun Mayor Jeon Hwa-sik and officials from related local governments, along with road and transportation experts, also took part, discussing the project's necessity and strategies for clearing the preliminary feasibility review.
The seminar featured a presentation on strategies for completing the East-West Axis 3 expressway corridor. Participants emphasized the urgent need to close the final missing link in the national trunk road network — the Muju-Seongju-Daegu section of the East-West Axis 3 route running from Saemangeum to Pohang.
The expressway would span 84.1 kilometers with four lanes and carry a project cost of 6.4 trillion won ($4.71 billion). It is designed to connect the last unbuilt gap in the East-West Axis 3 corridor, which has remained incomplete since the national trunk road network plan was established in 1992.
The project was selected as a preliminary feasibility study target in October last year, and the review formally began in January this year. Seongju-gun and other related local governments have continued coordinating their efforts to secure approval.
"We will work closely with related local governments and agencies to ensure that this long-held regional aspiration finally bears fruit, doing our utmost to pass the preliminary feasibility study and advance the project as swiftly as possible," Mayor Jeon said.
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