Joint Efforts Underway to Help Pocheon–Cheorwon Expressway Pass Feasibility Study... Gangwon State and Others Sign Agreement

[Financial News Cheorwon = Kim Ki-seop] Gangwon State, Gyeonggi Province, Pocheon City, and Cheorwon County have agreed to join forces to help the Pocheon–Cheorwon Expressway pass its preliminary feasibility study.
According to Gangwon State on the 4th, Governor Woo Sang-ho signed an agreement that day at the National Assembly Members' Office Building with the National Assembly, Gyeonggi Province, Pocheon City, and Cheorwon County on the Pocheon–Cheorwon Expressway. The agreement was established to pool the capabilities of the relevant agencies to help the project pass its preliminary feasibility study and to urge the government to move forward promptly through a joint petition.
The Pocheon–Cheorwon Expressway, designated as the fourth north-south corridor, will extend 24 km and require a total investment of 1.3305 trillion won. It was included in the second expressway construction plan in 2022, and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) has been conducting a preliminary feasibility study since April last year. The results are scheduled to be announced in October.
Cheorwon's transportation infrastructure is relatively underdeveloped. It takes 41.3 minutes to reach an expressway interchange from Cheorwon County, more than twice the national average of 16.8 minutes. The county's road paving rate is also 70.8%, well below the national average of 94.8%. Traffic on National Route 43, which connects Cheorwon with the Seoul metropolitan area, increased by about 67%, from 18,847 vehicles in 2017 to 31,450 vehicles this year. On weekends, travel takes more than 90 minutes.
Once the expressway is built, travel from Cheorwon toward the Seoul metropolitan area is expected to fall from 50 minutes to 15 minutes, a reduction of 35 minutes. Tourism access is expected to improve, while the logistics competitiveness of companies and industrial complexes should also increase. In fact, after the Guri–Pocheon Expressway opened in 2017, five industrial complexes were newly completed in Pocheon, demonstrating the effects of improved accessibility. The new road is also expected to improve access for emergency patients to medical institutions outside the area and serve as a regional support route, enabling firefighting and rescue personnel from northern Gyeonggi to move quickly during major disasters such as wildfires, torrential rain, and heavy snow.
Gangwon State Governor Woo Sang-ho said, "This is a national project to improve transportation conditions in border areas, where it takes more than 40 minutes just to reach an interchange, and to lay the foundation for balanced regional development and a peace economy by connecting the Seoul metropolitan area with northern Gangwon. We will pool our capabilities with the relevant agencies to help the project pass its preliminary feasibility study and move forward promptly."
[email protected] Kim Ki-seop Reporter