"First shovel" in 15 years on the East Interstate...Completed in 2029

Dongbu Expressway in Seoul is inconvenient due to frequent flooding and chronic congestion

Wolneunggyo Bridge to Daechi-dong 10 minutes...the eastern railway line 'underground'

A four-lane underground tunnel...Through 365 days of heavy rain and heavy snow

[Anchor]
The Dongbu Underground Road Project, which was announced during the first term of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, has opened its first shovel in about 15 years.

When the underground road is completed five years later, it will be possible to travel without restrictions in heavy rain or heavy snow, and pass from Seongbuk to Gangnam in 10 minutes.

I'm reporter Cha Jung-yoon on the report.

[Reporter]
Dongbu Expressway, the axis connecting the north and south of Seoul,

Since its opening in 1991, it has been a major transportation axis in the northeastern region with 150,000 vehicles per day, but it has been inconvenient due to repeated flooding and frequent congestion every summer torrential downpours.

The eastern highway that was like this changes.

The construction of the underground tunnel has begun in earnest in the 12.5km section from Wolneung Bridge in Seongbuk-gu to Daechi-dong in Gangnam.

It is a four-lane road dedicated to small cars passing under the Jungnangcheon Stream and the Han River, and operates 365 days without traffic restrictions despite heavy rain or heavy snow.

The plan is to design a first-class disaster prevention facility to block the inflow of water and install an air purification system on major entry and exit routes to minimize environmental damage.

[Lee Dong-hoon/ Civil engineering director of Seoul Urban Infrastructure Headquarters: There will be no fumes from the ground because ventilation is performed underground. So we believe that air and noise problems will be completely resolved.]

When the underground road is completed in 2029, the ground traffic on the eastern highway will be dispersed by about 70,000 units, which will also help resolve the congestion.

[Oh Se-hoon / Seoul Mayor: It was a very slow road. [As the 20km/h road becomes the 70km/h road, the time it takes from 50 minutes will be reduced to 10 minutes]The city of

said it plans to turn the existing ground road into a large waterfront park at the time when both the financial and private projects of the eastern highway are completed.

I'm YTN's Cha Jung Yoon.

Filmmaker: Jung Hee-in
Video editing: Lee Young-hoon