Plan for 140km/h Expressway from Gwangju to Yeongam: Speed Increase Pursued to Connect Industrial Axes

Interest is concentrating on the automotive industry and road design fields as a plan to increase the speed limit to 140km/h for the expressway section connecting Yeongam from Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, is revealed. A video released on the YouTube channel 'Kim Han-yong's MOCAR' covered the background of the promotion and the legal and institutional issues of the section.

140km/h Design Pursued to Connect Industrial Traffic Axes

According to the video, this expressway plan targets an approximately 47km section extending from Seungcho IC in Gwangju to Seoho IC in Yeongam. This section is planned as an industrial traffic axis connecting Solaseado in Yeongam, the National AI Computing Center, and the newly planned semiconductor industrial complex. With a project cost of 2.6 trillion won, the goal is completion by 2033, with plans to build a six-lane road based on design standards that allow driving at 140km/h.

Kim Han-yong mentioned in the video that if a road capable of driving at 140km/h is secured, the travel time from Seoul to Busan (based on approximately 400km) could be reduced by about 1 hour and 9 minutes compared to driving at 100km/h. He explained that this goes beyond simply increasing speed, and is about creating an environment where drivers can choose their speed in accordance with the driving flow.

Legal Upper Limit of 120km/h and Institutional Challenges

However, raising the road design standards and allowing actual driving speeds are separate issues. Under current Korean laws, even for specially designated expressway sections, the maximum speed is limited to 120km/h. There was a case during the construction of the Sejong–Pocheon Expressway where attempts were made to design some sections based on a 140km/h standard, but they ultimately operated at 120km/h due to the legal upper limit.

Therefore, for this plan by the Jeollanam-do Provincial Government to be realized, institutional support such as the amendment of the Road Traffic Act is essential in addition to road design. The video analyzed that while the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reviewed the preparation of design standards and consultations with relevant agencies through the past Sejong–Pocheon Expressway case, they faced difficulties in promotion due to reasons such as the formation of public opinion, suggesting that the realization of this plan depends on the direction of public opinion.

Global Standards and Changes in Automobile Performance

The video also covered the development of automobile performance and differences in global standards as major issues. It mentioned that compared to vehicle performance during the Gyeongbu Expressway era in the 1970s, current automobile performance has advanced dramatically, and presented cases where major foreign countries operate speed limits ranging from 120km/h to 150km/h. Furthermore, by mentioning global standards such as the '85th percentile speed' (the speed at or below which 85% of vehicles travel), which is an indicator for setting speed limits in the United States, it suggested that it is time for discussions regarding Korea's speed limits.