The Seoul city government announced on the 1st that it will temporarily suspend the operation of the car-free street on Cheonggyecheon Road in the Gwancheol-dong section until the end of December. Accordingly, vehicle traffic will resume in the 450-meter section from the Cheonggye 2-ga intersection to the Gwanggyo intersection on the north side of Cheonggyecheon from July 12 until the end of December.
A car-free street is a policy that physically and temporally limits vehicle traffic to allow citizens to walk safely. The car-free section of Cheonggyecheon Road spans 880 meters from Cheonggye Plaza on the south and north sides to Samil Bridge. It operates on Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on public holidays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
However, merchants in the Gwancheol-dong section of Cheonggyecheon Road have continually requested the Seoul city government to lift the car-free policy for some sections. They cite difficulties in the entry and exit of delivery vehicles and a decline in sales as reasons.
In response, the Seoul city government has developed a plan to temporarily suspend operations and conduct monitoring to collect objective and empirical data on the impact of the car-free street.
However, a Seoul city official noted, 'This temporary suspension and monitoring of certain sections of Cheonggyecheon Road does not mean that the car-free policy will be lifted in those sections.'
During the suspension period, the city plans to collect credit card sales data from businesses near Gwancheol-dong and pedestrian traffic data to compare before and after the implementation of the car-free street.
Based on the results, the city plans to determine the future operation direction of the car-free street in the section from Cheonggye 2-ga intersection to Gwanggyo intersection at the northern end of Cheonggyecheon.
Yeojang-gwon, the head of the Seoul city traffic department, said, 'We plan to closely monitor the policy effects of the car-free street on Cheonggyecheon Road, which has been in operation for about 20 years, due to this temporary suspension measure.' He added, 'We will reflect the analysis of on-site conditions and careful review in the future operational direction.'