The final section of Busan's inner ring road, the Mandeok–Centum urban expressway (deep underground), is opening. This will slash the travel time, which used to take more than 40 minutes, to 11 minutes.
The city of Busan will hold a ribbon-cutting for the "Mandeok–Centum expressway" at 2 p.m. on the 9th at the Mandeok IC. Mandeok IC is the starting point of this road.
About 300 people are expected to attend, including Mayor Park Heong-joon; Busan Metropolitan Council Chair Ahn Seong-min; National Assembly members Chun Jae-soo (Buk-gu A), Kim Mi-ae (Haeundae B) and Park Sung-hoon (Buk-gu B); the chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; the Dongnae District chief; the Buk-gu chief; the Haeundae-gu chief; the Yeonje-gu chief; and officials from the construction.
The event will proceed in the following order: ▲ national ceremony ▲ introduction of guests ▲ project progress report ▲ commemorative remarks ▲ congratulatory remarks ▲ groundbreaking performance.
The Mandeok–Centum urban expressway is a 9.62-kilometer, four-lane bidirectional tunnel consolidation Buk-gu's Mandeok-dong (Mandeok-daero) and Haeundae-gu's Jaesong-dong (Suyeong Riverside-daero).
The city said the Mandeok–Centum urban expressway is the nation's first deep underground road that all vehicle types can use. This is because the road was built at a depth of more than 40 meters underground. Some underground roads restrict entry by large trucks due to height limits.
The city also said that with this opening, it has completed all remaining sections 25 years after establishing the "Busan inner ring road network" plan in 2001.
According to the city, the opening will cut the travel time from Mandeok to Centum from more than 40 minutes to the 10-minute range (11.3 minutes). The city estimated the economic effects as ▲ 64.8 billion won in annual travel cost savings ▲ 1.2332 trillion won in production inducement effect ▲ 9,599 jobs created.
Tolls will be charged on the Mandeok–Centum urban expressway starting on the 19th. Until then, it will be free. For passenger cars, a 2,500-won toll will be charged during morning rush hour from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. and evening rush hour from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., based on passing from Mandeok IC to Centum IC.
Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon said, "The Mandeok–Centum urban expressway opening is a symbolic project for transforming Busan's transportation system," adding, "We expect a significant boost in synergy and vitality across the regional economy."