Expressway 15 (South Korea)

	Template: Infobox high-ranking street / Maintenance / KR-E
	Expressway 15 in South Korea
	map
	Basic data
Operator:	Korea Expressway Corporation
Start of the street:	Mokpo
End of street:	Seoul
Overall length:	341 km
of which in operation:	341 km
Thu ( province ):	Jeollanam-do; Jeollabuk-do; Chungcheongnam-do; Gyeonggi-do; Seoul;

The Expressway 15 ( kor. 서해안 고속도로 , also called Seohaean Expressway ) is an expressway in South Korea . The highway is a north-south route along the entire west coast of the country, starting in the south at Mokpo to the capital Seoul and is 341 kilometers long.

Street description

In the south of South Korea

The highway begins in Mokpo, a city of 242,000 people in southwest South Korea. At the beginning it has 2 × 2 lanes, but after the first connection it widens to 2 × 4 lanes and now turns towards the northeast. It now runs right along the coast. It is followed by a shamrock with a local street. The motorway then has 2 × 2 lanes again and leads somewhat inland. In this area is an important river and the highway runs through the Yeongsan Valley . The area is slightly mountainous with low, but heavily forested mountains. The highway here has a number of tunnels and runs along Muan . Here it crosses Expressway 12 which runs in the northeast from Muan International Airport to Gwangju .

Expressway 15 runs 30 kilometers west of Gwangju and is not far from the coast here. In the area there are a multitude of low mountains and in the coastal regions. Near the city of Gochang there is an intersection with Expressway 253 , an east-west highway. A large coastal plain follows and the Expressway 15 also has 2 × 2 lanes here. The motorway runs partly over bridges and passes Gimje to the west. Between Iksan and Gunsan you cross Expressway 20 , an east-west highway from Gunsan via Iksan to Jeonju . It also crosses Expressway 151 , which runs from Gunsan to Cheonan .

In the west of South Korea

It will cross the Geum River and Expressway 15 runs through a mountainous area that is still close to the coast. This part of South Korea is relatively sparsely populated with a few large cities. The motorway therefore also has 2 × 2 lanes here. Gunsan has several US military bases, for which the road is an important route to Seoul. The motorway also has a number of tunnels here. At Boryeong , the highway runs very close to the Yellow Sea . The highway runs north along the edge of a mountain, on a narrow coastal strip.

In Dangjin , expressway 30 is crossed, which runs eastwards. From this junction 2 × 3 lanes are available. This is followed by a large structure, the Seohae Grand Bridge , which has a length of six kilometers. Immediately after the bridge, the motorway runs along a new port, which was partly built into the sea. Shortly thereafter, a junction with Expressway 40 follows . Here, too, the highway has 2 × 3 lanes and runs through a hilly area in the north and leads to the metropolitan area of Seoul .

Seoul

A local motorway bridge with 2 × 2 lanes runs parallel to the motorway. It is followed by the city of Ansan with 690,000 inhabitants. From here the traffic increases significantly. This is followed by an intersection with Expressway 50 , which forms the southern bypass of Seoul. Shortly thereafter, there is a very large toll station and a connection with the Expressway 100 , which is Seoul's other bypass. In the suburbs of Seoul, the road widens to 2 × 4 lanes and there is an intersection with Expressway 110 , one of the highways between Seoul and Incheon . Shortly thereafter, Expressway 15 officially ends, but continues as a city freeway with 2 × 2 lanes in the direction of downtown Seoul.

history

Expressway 15 is relatively new. The motorway was approved in 1991 and construction began that same year. On July 6, 1994, the first part of 28 kilometers between Expressway 110 in Seoul and Expressway 50 in Ansan opened. On December 17, 1996, another 41 kilometers opened between Ansan and the port of Poseung. On August 25, 1998, another 23 kilometers of motorway opened between Mokpo and Meun, in the extreme southwest of South Korea. On October 30 of the same year, 23 kilometers opened between Seocheon and Gunsan.

The Seohae Grand Bridge, then the ninth longest bridge in the world, opened on November 10, 200. Its construction began in 1993 and lasted seven years. This bridge is still one of the longest in South Korea today. This cuts the travel time between the two ends of the bridge by an hour. On September 27, 2001 the section between Dangjin and Seocheon was opened with about 104 kilometers and on December 21 of the same year the last section with 114 kilometers between Gunsan and Muan.

Opening dates of the motorway

from	to	length	date
Ansan	Ilyik	027.6 km	07/06/1994
Pyeongtaek	Ansan	040.9 km	12/17/1996
Mokpo	Muan	023.2 km	08/25/1998
Gunsan	Seocheon	022.7 km	10/30/1998
Dangjin	Oyeongtaek	019.3 km	11/10/2000
Seocheon	Dangjin	103.7 km	09/27/2001
Muan	Gunsan	114.3 km	12/21/2001

Traffic volume

The traffic volume is low in the south with 10,000 to 30,000 vehicles per day, in the north and near Seoul the highway is heavily used with up to 161,000 vehicles per day.

Expansion of the roadways

from	to	length	Lanes
Mokpo	Dangjin	255 km	2 × 2
Dangjin	Ansan	070 km	2 × 3
Ansan	Jonam	002 km	2 × 4
Jonam	Mokgam	004 km	2 × 5
Mokgam	Seoul	008 kilometers	2 × 4

Web links

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korean)
Wegenwiki (Dutch)