The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 22nd it selected the Hyosung Heavy Industries consortium as the preferred bidder for a four-lane, bidirectional expressway project linking Seongnam, Gyeonggi, and Seocho, Seoul. The project aims to start construction in 2029 and open in 2034.
The project will build a four-lane, bidirectional expressway totaling 10.7 kilometers to connect Geumto-dong in Sujeong-gu, Seongnam, and Umyeon-dong in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The estimated project cost is about 561.2 billion won. In January, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) issued a request for third-party proposals to recruit an operator, and the Hyosung Heavy Industries consortium submitted the sole application.
The section from Geumto Junction (JC) to Seocho IC, which is the project segment, is a chronic bottleneck with an average daily traffic volume of about 190,000 vehicles. The government expects the new expressway's opening will disperse vehicles traveling from southern Seoul suburbs such as Seongnam and Pangyo to the southwestern part of Seoul. It is also expected to strengthen connectivity with Seoul's arterial road network, including the Gangnam Circular Urban Expressway and the Umyeonsan Tunnel.