Seoul-Munsan Expressway To Be Completed In November As Planned

On the 15th, Seoul Munsan Expressway Co., Ltd. announced that the “construction progress rate of Seoul-Munsan Expressway, which is a 2-6 lane 35.2km long road and connects Naepo-ri, Munsan-eup, Paju-si to Gangmae-dong, Deokyang-gu, Goyang-si, exceeds 96%, and final preparations are being made for opening this November.”

The Seoul-Munsan Expressway, the core route in the northern part of the metropolitan area, will be completed in November as originally planned.

The Seoul-Munsan Expressway is being promoted as a privately funded business method with a total investment of 2.19 trillion KRW, where the state bears part of the costs with the rest being paid for by the private sector. Seoul Munsan Expressway Co., Ltd. is the operator, and GS E&C is participating as the consortium leader. Upon completion in November of this year, all facilities will be donated to the state, and management and operation rights will be granted after that and will be operated for 30 years.

In fact, when this road opens on November, access to Seoul and southern Gyeonggi areas from the northwestern part of the metropolitan area including Goyang and Paju, and the 3rd new town Changneung, which lack highway infrastructure, will significantly improve. If the Seoul-Gwangmyeong Expressway is completed in the future, a highway axis connecting Paju-Goyang-Seoul-Gwangmyeong-Suwon-Pyeongtaek will be created, reducing movement times by 35 minutes and enabling movement within an hour. For this reason, it is expected that it will be able to promote regional economic development, such as improving regional logistics conditions and expanding living areas in the metropolitan area.

It is also expected to serve as a gateway to the era of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation in the future. When inter-Korean economic cooperation begins in earnest and the Seoul-Kaeseong-Pyongyang Expressway becomes a reality, the Seoul-Munsan Expressway will play a bridging role. It becomes a privately funded project that symbolizes the improvement of inter-Korean relations through economic cooperation.

In particular, GS E&C’s private road projects are expected to gain more momentum through the successful implementation of this project within schedule. Previously, GS E&C successfully carried out projects as the lead company of the first ring road of the northern section of the metropolitan area (Ilsan-Toegyewon) and the Cheonan-Nonsan Expressway, which were the first private road projects in Korea. Next, private projects of the central government such as the 2nd Yeongdong Expressway, Guri – Pocheon Expressway, Sangju – Yeongcheon Expressway, Oksan – Ochang Expressway, in addition to Gangnam Ring Expressway, Seobu Trunk Underground Road, Jemulpo Tunnel and Busan City Internal Ring (Mandeok – Centum) Road were carried out. GS E&C has established itself as a powerhouse in the privately owned road business as it has rich experience in privately-owned projects, through its participation in several privately funded local government urban expressway projects.

An official from Seoul Munsan Expressway Co., Ltd. stated, “Since the GS E&C consortium was first proposed in 2003, and during the process of executing the project, we have been able to carry out construction without extending the construction period despite numerous challenges such as minimizing damage to green areas in the metropolitan area, tunneling of the Guksa Peak, and other difficult construction conditions.” “We will do our best until the end so that the scheduled completion schedule in November will not be interrupted.”