On the afternoon of the 4th, the second day of the Chuseok holiday, congestion is building on expressways as the homebound rush continues. However, as traffic flows improved compared with the morning, the estimated travel times from Seoul to major cities are decreasing.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5 p.m. the estimated travel times from the Seoul tollgate to major cities nationwide are 6 hours 10 minutes to Busan, 5 hours to Ulsan, 5 hours 20 minutes to Mokpo, 5 hours to Gwangju, 4 hours 5 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours to Gangneung, and 3 hours to Daejeon.
In the opposite direction, from each city to Seoul, it is 4 hours 30 minutes from Busan, 4 hours 20 minutes from Ulsan, 3 hours 50 minutes from Mokpo, 3 hours 20 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours 20 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours 10 minutes from Gangneung, and 1 hour 48 minutes from Daejeon.
Compared with the morning, congestion toward the greater Seoul area has eased somewhat, but estimated travel times heading to the provinces have increased by about an hour. This is interpreted as the effect of the homebound rush gaining momentum.
As a result, bottlenecks are occurring at various points on the expressways. As of 5 p.m., on the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan, congestion spans 17 kilometers from near Ipjang to near the Cheonan junction and 28 kilometers from near the Oksan Service Area to near Sintanjin, among other sections; toward Seoul, traffic is backed up for 12 kilometers from near the Oksan junction to near Mokcheon, among other sections.
On the Seohaean Expressway toward Mokpo, traffic is not flowing smoothly along a 13-kilometer stretch from the Seopyeongtaek junction to the Seohae Bridge and a 9-kilometer stretch from near the Dangjin junction to Seosan, among other sections.
On the Jungbu Naeryuk Expressway toward Changwon, vehicles are unable to reach normal speeds along an 11-kilometer stretch from the Yeoju junction to near Gamgok and a 15-kilometer stretch from near the Mungyeong No. 2 Tunnel to near the Mungyeong Service Area, among other sections.
The expressway corporation forecast that congestion on the homebound routes will clear from 8–9 p.m., and congestion on the return routes will clear from 7–8 p.m. It also projected that 5.37 million vehicles will be on the move nationwide today.
About 480,000 vehicles are expected to travel from the greater Seoul area to the provinces and 470,000 from the provinces to the greater Seoul area, with congestion concentrated on roads heading to the provinces compared with a typical Saturday.