On the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, traffic congestion continues on major highways nationwide on the afternoon of the 25th.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5 p.m. on this day, the estimated travel times by passenger car from the Seoul toll gate to major cities nationwide are ▲Busan 5 hours 10 minutes ▲Ulsan 4 hours 40 minutes ▲Daegu 4 hours 10 minutes ▲Gwangju·Mokpo 4 hours ▲Daejeon 2 hours 10 minutes ▲Gangneung 3 hours.
The estimated times to Seoul from each city are ▲Busan 4 hours 30 minutes ▲Ulsan 4 hours 20 minutes ▲Mokpo 3 hours 40 minutes ▲Gwangju·Daegu 3 hours 20 minutes ▲Daejeon 1 hour 50 minutes ▲Gangneung 2 hours 40 minutes.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading towards Busan, traffic congestion is ongoing in areas such as 4 km from near Cheonan to the Cheonan Junction, 5 km from near the Cheonan rest area to the Cheongju Junction, and 3 km from near Nam Cheongju to near Jukam Rest Area, as vehicle numbers increase.
On the Seohaean Expressway heading towards Mokpo, vehicles are unable to maintain speed in areas such as near Geumcheon, 2 km from the Poseung Junction to the Seohae Bridge, and 1 km near the Dongsuh Junction.
On the Jungbu Expressway heading towards Nami, there is congestion in areas such as 13 km from Ochang to the Nami Junction, and on the Yeongdong Expressway heading towards Gangneung, there is congestion for 4 km near the Hobak Junction to Icheon.
The corporation reported that traffic on routes other than the major ones is relatively smooth in both directions.
Congestion in the direction of returning home peaked around 11 a.m. to noon this day, and it is expected to ease around 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Congestion in the direction of returning to the capital is expected to be most severe around 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and to ease around 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The corporation anticipates that 460,000 vehicles will move from the metropolitan area to the provinces and 360,000 from the provinces to the metropolitan area, resulting in a total of 5.05 million vehicles moving nationwide.