Expressway 55 (South Korea)

	Template: Infobox high-ranking street / Maintenance / KR-E
	Expressway 55 in South Korea
	map
	Basic data
Operator:	Korea Expressway Corporation
Start of the street:	Busan
End of street:	Chuncheon
Overall length:	387 km
of which in operation:	387 km
Thu ( province ):	Busan; Gyeongsangnam-do; Gyeongsangbuk-do; Daegu; Chungcheongbuk-do; Gangwon-do;

The Expressway 55 also known as Jungang Expressway ( kor. 중앙 고속도로 , Jungang Gosok Doro) is an expressway in South Korea . The highway is a north-south route in the eastern half of the country, from the port city of Busan to Chuncheon in the north of the country. The highway is the northernmost in South Korea and also has the longest stretch between two crosses , namely between Daegu and Wonju . The highway is 387 kilometers long.

Street description

Busan

The highway begins in the west of Busan, the second largest city in South Korea in the far southeast of the country. The highway crosses the Nakdong River and then connects to Gimhae Airport, Busan's main airport. The motorway here has 2 × 2 lanes and there are more motorways in the area. Then the Expressway 10 is crossed, an east-west highway that comes from Gwangju and leads to Busan. The highway follows the river north and after a few kilometers north it crosses Expressway 551 , which connects the northern suburbs of Busan with the city and Expressway 1 .

In the east of South Korea

The highway then passes through a mountainous area and has a large number of tunnels and leads via Miryang and Cheongdo to Daegu , a city of 2.5 million people. The highway runs along the east side of Daegu and connects to Expressway 1 . Both highways then run north of Daegu. It will then cross Expressway 20 , which leads to the east coast in the direction of Pohang . On the north side of Daegu, Expressway 55 and Expressway 1 separate again.

The following part of the motorway leads through a mountainous area with a lot of tunnels. The highway runs through a sparsely populated part of South Korea and does not cross highways for a long distance and there are only cities of regional importance in this part of the route. This part of South Korea consists of low mountains up to 500 meters high. The highway runs north via Yeongju and then runs through a higher mountain range with peaks of up to 1,400 meters. You then reach Wonju , a town about 190 kilometers north of Daegu. In Wonju one crosses the Expressway 50 , the northernmost coast-to-coast highway in South Korea, from Seoul via Incheon and Gangneung .

In the north of South Korea

Expressway 55 then runs about 70 kilometers further north and is the northernmost highway in South Korea. The highway runs here about 80 kilometers east of Seoul to the north, through a very mountainous area. In Chuncheon , the highway ends in an urban highway, about 50 kilometers south of the border with North Korea.

history

The first section opened on December 12, 1994 between Expressway 50 and Wonju on a short route. This was opened to 2 × 2 lanes along with the widening of the 50 Expressway. Three days later, a second short stretch of Expressway 1 opened near Daegu.

On August 29, 1995, three route sections were opened, namely from Chilgok to Uiseong , from Chungju to Wonju and from Chuncheon to Hongcheon . On June 28, 1996, the section from Expressway 10 to Busan opened. On June 1, 2000 the missing connections between Daegu and Wonju opened. On August 17, 2001, part of Wonju opened to Hongcheon, so the highway was more or less completed in its current form. At the end of 2001 a new connection was opened at Yecheon . On January 25, 2006 the highway from Daegu to Busan opened, giving Busan a second north-south highway.

Opening dates of the motorway

from	to	length	date
Wonju South	Manjong	4.4 km	12/12/1994
Geumho	Chilgok	18.7 km	12/15/1994
Chilgok	Andong West (1 × 2)	67.3 km	08/29/1995
Jecheon	Wonju South (1 × 2)	31.6 km	08/29/1995
Hongcheon	Chuncheon (1 × 2)	24.2 km	08/29/1995
Daejeo	Daedong	7.1 km	06/28/1996
Chilgok	Andong West (2 × 2)	67.3 km	06/01/2000
Jecheon	Wonju South (2 × 2)	31.6 km	06/01/2000
Hongcheon	Chuncheon (2 × 2)	24.2 km	06/01/2000
Andong West	Punggi	51.5 km	06/01/2000
Manjong	Hongcheon	43.8 km	08/17/2001
Punggi	Jecheon	51.4 km	12/14/2001
Daedong	Daegu East	81.4 km	01/25/2006

Traffic volume

The traffic volume in the south in the metropolitan areas is very high with up to 37,000 vehicles per day. At Daegu, where Expressway 55 and Expressway 1 connect, the traffic volume is around 56,000 vehicles per day. In the northern regions of the motorway, the volume of traffic is much lower and is around 10,000 to 22,000 vehicles per day.

Expansion of the roadways

from	to	length	Lanes
Busan	Chuncheon	387 km	2 × 2

Web links

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