Traffic Volumes Surge Since Early Morning... Severe Congestion Expected in Both Directions

[Anchor]

Even today, the day of Chuseok (September 25), expressways across the country are expected to experience severe traffic jams in both directions heading down to local regions and returning to Seoul.

Reporter Kwon Min-kyu explains today's highway conditions.

[Reporter]

Vehicles have been rapidly increasing from the early hours of the morning today, which is both Chuseok Day and the second day of the holiday.

The Korea Expressway Corporation projected that 6.84 million vehicles will travel on the roads today, a 26.4% increase compared to the average on Chuseok last year.

In particular, it expects 470,000 vehicles to move from the Seoul metropolitan area to provincial regions, and 460,000 vehicles to move from provincial regions to the metropolitan area.

On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan, congestion is expected to center around the sections from Seoul Tollgate to Suwon-Singal Interchange, and from Cheonan Junction to Nam-Cheongju Interchange, with traffic peaking at 4 p.m.

On the Seohaean Expressway toward Mokpo, traffic congestion will continue from Seosoul Tollgate to Seopyeongtaek Interchange, with congestion expected to reach its peak at 12 p.m.

Departing from Seoul today, the estimated travel time to Busan is 9 hours and 10 minutes, 7 hours to Mokpo, 6 hours and 40 minutes to Gwangju, 5 hours to Gangneung, and 4 hours to Daejeon.

Return traffic congestion is forecast to be the most severe during this holiday period.

The travel time from Busan to Seoul is expected to take 9 hours, 7 hours and 20 minutes from Gwangju, and 4 hours and 30 minutes from Daejeon.

Congestion for those heading to their hometowns is expected to ease between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., but congestion for returning travelers is projected to clear only around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. early tomorrow.

Meanwhile, expressway tolls are waived for all vehicles from yesterday, when the holiday began, until midnight on Sunday, September 27.

Real-time traffic conditions can be checked through the highway traffic information app and the RoadPlus website.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.