Wonju Munmak-Heungeop Road to Be Expanded to Six Lanes, Included in National Road and Local Road Plan

【Financial News Wonju=Reporter Kim Gi-seop】The expansion of National Route 42 between Munmak and Heungeop, a project expected to ease chronic traffic congestion in western Wonju, has been included in the national plan.
According to Wonju-si on the 26th, the National Route 42 Munmak-Heungeop road construction project, which the city has been actively promoting, passed review by the Financial Project Evaluation Committee at the Ministry of Planning and Budget on the 26th and was included in the Sixth National Route and Local Road Construction Plan for 2026-2030. The project will widen a 4.7-km section of National Route 42 from Gundeung Intersection in Gundeung-ri, Munmak-eup, to Gwangteo Intersection in Saje-ri, Heungeop-myeon, from four lanes to six. The total project cost is 75.2 billion won.
Once completed, the project is expected to relieve congestion in the gateway section of Wonju that connects to the Gwangju–Wonju Expressway and the Yeongdong Expressway. It is also expected to improve logistics conditions between Wonju Enterprise City and Wonju Medical Industry Park. Better access between downtown Wonju and the western area's tourism and industrial assets is also expected to support the local economy.
This inclusion is the result of efforts that have continued since 2022. Wonju-si began a feasibility study in November 2022 and submitted the project route to Gangwon State in March 2023. It was then selected in February last year as a candidate for preliminary feasibility review for the Sixth National Route and Local Road Construction Plan, and underwent an on-site inspection by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) in May of the same year. Continued consultations with the National Assembly, the government and other related agencies, along with efforts to explain the need for the project, led to its inclusion in the national wide-area transportation network plan.
However, among the four routes Wonju-si proposed as candidates for preliminary feasibility review — Heungeop~Jijeong, Munmak~Heungeop, Ganhyeon~Gagok, and Buron Beopcheon~Norim — only the Munmak-Heungeop section was included. In particular, the Heungeop~Jijeong national bypass road connecting Innovation City and Enterprise City, which the city had ranked first in its proposal, was left out, leaving follow-up measures for the excluded routes as a task ahead. The Munmak-Heungeop section included this time will be finalized after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approves the fiscal project evaluation in September and officially announces the Sixth National Route and Local Road Construction Plan in October.
Wonju Mayor Gu Ja-yeol said, "This is an essential project to ease congestion in the gateway section leading to the Gwangju–Wonju Expressway and to improve logistics flow for Enterprise City and Wonju Medical Industry Park." He added, "Based on its inclusion in the national plan, we will work closely with related agencies so that follow-up procedures, including budget securing, proceed without setbacks." He also said, "We will mobilize our administrative capacity so that the routes left out this time, including the Heungeop~Jijeong national bypass road, can be supplemented and reflected in the Seventh National Route and Local Road Construction Plan."

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter