Dir.-Gen. Joo Hyun-jong of the Road Bureau at MOLIT. (Photo: MOLIT)

Starting this year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to build the C-ITS-oriented digital SOC on expressways.

It will stretch 725 km in total on expressways, and 400 km on national roads. The project will allow for the commercial use of self-driving cars.

The ministry is implementing projects to digitalize major roads to support the commercialization of autonomous cars by 2027 as part of the Korean New Deal.

The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Dir.-Gen. Joo Hyun-jong of the Road Bureau at MOLIT, in which he spoke of his bureau’s policies, including future road policies.

Question: Would you tell our readers about your Road Bureau’s major policies and achievements?

Answer: We’ve focused on ramping up public interests in the road sector by carrying out SOC fiscal execution and providing support to small businesspeople to overcome the unprecedented crisis, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the year 2021, as the pandemic is still lingering, we’re redoubling efforts to provide support to boost the national economy thorough the construction of roads, build innovative foundation for traffic services corresponding to the demand of the “new normal” era, such as contactless services and digitalization of SOC, and contribute to a shift into a carbon-neutral society, such as the expansion of eco-environmental charging infrastructure.

We also pay heed to our responsibility of managing road facilities in a thorough fashion, and halving traffic accident deaths by eliminating factors triggering accidents.

In particular, the government is implementing projects to build truck road networks stretching 2,570 km on 213 sections by pouring in 7.354 trillion won this year.

We plan to provide support to reinvigorate the regional economies by expanding major truck road networks timely for balanced national development and easing congestion, strengthening efficiency of networks, implementing small- and medium-sized projects designed to link missing sections, overhaul faulty linear structures without interruptions and offering resting and cultural space using idle national sites like smart multi-purpose resting areas.

As for major achievements in the first half of this year, 12 high-speed chargers have been installed at expressway resting areas to expand eco-friendly car charging infrastructure.

The physically handicapped have their tollgate charges exempted through the revision of the enforcement decrees for the Act on Pay Roads.

Also, a privately-invested 18.3 km expressway linking Bongdam and Songsan, and 10 projects to construct trunk roads, stretching 68 km in total length, including the Jido-Imja section, have been expanded and opened to traffic.

The ministry plans to establish and put on public notice the second national road network master plan between 2021 and 2030, and the 2nd expressway construction plan between 2021 and 2025, which contains the direction of national policies and expressway projects in the road sector through consultations with related government ministries in July.

Q: Would you introduce major road construction projects being pushed?

A: This year, expressway construction projects connecting 880 km in length over 23 sections will cost 2.281.5 trillion won in the state budget. Among them are the Bongdam-Songsan privately-invested expressway, which was opened to traffic on April 28, and the 32.5-km-long Daegu Outer Ring Road, to be opened to traffic in December.

A combined 1,904 billion won will be poured in to implement 130 projects to improve congested sections, strengthen the functions of truck roads, correct faulty linear structures and connect missing links. Among them, 29 sections, totaling 186.6 km in length, are expected to be dedicated and opened.

In particular, the Boryeong-Taean No. 1 section, the undersea tunnel section of the National Road No. 77, is to be dedicated 11 years after ground was broken in 2010.

When the Boryeong Undersea Tunnel, the nation’s longest and the world’s fifth longest, is opened to traffic, it will reduce the distance from Daecheon Port to Yeongmok Port in Anmyeon Island in Taean from 81 km to just 14 km.

Travel time will be cut by over 80 minutes, to only 10 minutes. It is expected to not only boost the regional economy by building the West Coast tourism belt, but also greatly improve settlement conditions of the island areas.

Q: Would you elaborate on the current status of the construction of the Seoul-Sejong expressway, and its economic effects?

A: The Seoul-Sejong expressway construction project is one of the current government’s state agendas, designed to support balanced national development and ease traffic congestions along the Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) and Jungbu (Seoul-Daejeon) expressways. It will also reduce logistics costs.

The project will cost a combined 9,704.7 trillion won – 3,083.8 billion won from the state budget and 6,620.9 trillion won in KEC’s budget – for the construction of an expressway stretching 128.1 km in total length with four to six lanes.

Sections of the expressway had broken ground one by one from December 2016, and they are expected to be opened on a gradual basis from late 2022.

A total of 1.920.9 billion won – 1,420.8 billion won in construction costs and 500.1 billion won in site purchase costs – has been set aside for the 2021 expressway budget.

The Anseong-Guri section is under construction, with the goal of raising the progress rate to 56 percent by year-end. Completion on the Sejong-Anseong section is being conducted with the top priorities being safety and quality.

The expressway project is expected to create 71,000 jobs and have production spill-over effects worth 13.5 trillion won. When the expressway is opened to traffic, it will reduce the distance from Seoul to Sejong by 30 km to 128.1 km and reduce commuting time by 67 minutes to 74 minutes, bringing about societal benefits worth approximately 864 billion won.

Q: Would you specify the current status of a project to build the Saemangeum-Jeonju expressway and the next steps?

A: The project to build a 55-km-long expressway with four lanes in each direction, linking Saemangeum and Jeollabuk-do’s inland area, will cost 2,111.6 billion won – 1,058 billion won in state budget and 1,053.6 billion won in KEC’s budget. For the 2021 budget, 328.3 billion won is set aside, with the goal of increasing the progress rate of the project to 45.2 percent by year-end.

The expressway project is expected to create 17,000 jobs and have production spill-over effects worth 3.3 trillion won.

If the expressway is opened to traffic, it will reduce the driving distance from Jeonju to Saemangeum, emerging as an economic hub of Northeast Asia, by 7.7 km to 55.1 km and driving time by 43 minutes to 33 minutes, bringing in benefits worth 205 billion won annually.

The expressway, which links major road networks of the Jeollabuk-do area, such as Gimjae, Jeonju, and Wanju County, will have four junctions, three interchanges and two resting areas.

It is expected to serve as opportunities to boost the regional economy and ease the congested urban area of Jeonju City.

Q: Would you tell us about the current status of the construction of the Pohang-Yeongdeok expressway?

A: The project to build an expressway linking Pohang of the East Coast and Yeongdeok, a 30.9 km-long road with four lanes in each direction, will cost 1,372.4 billion won – 642.7 billion won in state budget and 729.7 billion won in KEC’s budget.

The project, which broke ground in August 2016, is scheduled to be put into operation by December 2023.
For this year, 118.9 billion won has been set aside for construction, with the goal of increasing its progress rate to 55 percent by year-end.

The project is expected to create 12,000 jobs and bring about production spill-over effects worth 2.3 trillion won.

When the expressway is opened, it will reduce the driving distance between Pohang and Yeongdeok by 6 km to 31 km. The driving time will be reduced by 20 minutes, to 19 minutes, and bring about benefits worth 14.8 billion won annually.

The upcoming expressway will be connected with the Dangjin-Yeongdeok and Saemangeum-Pohang expressways.

The Pohang-Yeongdeok expressway, to be linked with major traffic networks of Gyeongbuk’s East Coast region, will have one junction, three interchanges, and two resting areas, thus contributing to the industrial development of Gyeongbuk’s northern region and reinvigorating the regional economy.

Q: Would you touch on future road policies?

A: Commercialization of self-driving cars will likely reshape future roads into eco-friendly and mobility service space creating film showing, conferences, shopping and other diverse values, a departure from simple traveling space. Roads’ changed roles are demands of the times.

To this end, our ministry is implementing projects to digitalize major roads to support commercialization of autonomous cars starting 2027 as part of the Korean New Deal master plan, which was released in July 2020.

We plan to focus on the Cooperative-Intelligent Transport System, (C-ITS) a next-generation one designed to prevent accidents and support self-driving by exchanging a variety of information occurring on the roads fast via communications between roads and vehicles and among vehicles.

Infrastructure for digital SOC like the expanding of the intelligent transport system (ITS) has so far been laid on national and provincial roads. Starting this year, the ministry plans to build C-ITS-oriented digital SOC on expressways, stretching 725 km and on national roads, stretching 400 km.

We plan to establish a service roadmap to support safety information tailored to road types, the size of cities and self-driving levels in time for the introduction of self-driving cars.