An inland highway, connecting Kimchon in North Kyongsang Province and Yoju in Kyonggi Province, fully opened to traffic on Wednesday after eight years of construction.
The four-lane highway, spanning 151.6 kilometers, is expected to reduce annual logistics costs by 84.5 billion won for vehicles shuttling between the capital area and Kyongsang Province. It will also help boost the local economy of northwestern parts of North Kyongsang Province and the region’s tourism business, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said.
Those traveling from Seoul and Kimchon can save up to 34 minutes when they use the Kimchon-Yoju highway instead of the Seoul-Pusan highway. Ministry officials said the highway will absorb about 26 percent of traffic in the Seoul-Pusan highway.
The government channeled about 2.7 trillion for the construction, which began in October 1996 in order to ease road traffic between Seoul and Pusan and other Kyongsang Province cities. The highway includes 16 tunnels and 75 bridges.
The highway is expected to help Sangju in North Kyongsang Province emerge as a new hub of traffic and logistics, as well as improve business conditions of surrounding areas. Residents expect the new highway will boost tourism and make it much easier for consumers to purchase agricultural goods produced in the areas.
``Northern and eastern parts of North Kyongsang Province will have improved accessibility to highways and general logistics conditions will enhance,’’ a construction ministry official said.
