Expressway 1 (South Korea)

	Template: Infobox high-ranking street / Maintenance / KR-E
	Expressway 1 in South Korea
	Gyeongbu Expressway
	map
	Basic data
Operator:	Korea Expressway Corporation
Start of the street:	Busan ; ( 35 ° 15 ′ N , 129 ° 6 ′ E )
End of street:	Seoul ; ( 37 ° 31 ′ N , 127 ° 1 ′ E )
Overall length:	416 km
Thu ( province ):	Busan; Gyeongsangnam-do; Ulsan; Gyeongsangbuk-do; Daegu; Chungcheongbuk-do; Daejeon; Chungcheongnam-do; Gyeonggi-do; Seoul;
Development condition:	2 × 2, 2 × 3, 2 × 4, 2 × 5

The Expressway 1 ( English for 'Schnellstraße 1') is a highway in South Korea . It runs from Busan to the capital Seoul . It is the oldest and most important highway in the country. The highway runs along the major cities of Ulsan , Daegu and Daejeon . The road is 416 kilometers long.

Street description

Busan

The highway begins in the north of the port city of Busan , which has 3.6 million inhabitants. Immediately follows a junction with the national route 6 , an expressway that leads through the east of the city to the port. The ports of Busan are among the fourth largest in the world. The motorway from here has 2 × 3 lanes and a concrete pavement. There is a toll station on the north side of Busan. First of all, the motorway leads to the northwest. In the suburb of Yangsan, she crosses Expressway 551 , which runs back to Busan. The motorway there has eight lanes and then runs through mountains with peaks up to 1,000 meters high.

The highway will now run six lanes west of Ulsan, a city of 1.1 million people and home to the largest car factories in the world. The Expressway 16 connects with the Ulsan Expressway 1. In Gyeongju , about 80 kilometers northeast of Busan, the highway runs inland to the west. The highway follows a narrow valley surrounded by low forested mountains and then leads to the city of Daegu. The city has 2.5 million inhabitants and is the fourth largest city in the country.

Daegu

In Daegu, the expressway has eight lanes. Expressway 55 joins the east side of the city when coming from Busan and then runs along the north side of Daegu . Then there is a motorway junction with Expressway 20 , which leads through a mountainous route to Pohang on the east coast. The highway crosses the Geumho River twice and on the west side of Daegu there is an intersection with Expressway 55, which continues towards Chuncheon . In the south there is a cross with the Expressway 451 , which is a connection between the Expressway 45 and the Expressway 12 . The motorway has eight lanes in this area and then turns north.

The highway then leads into the valley of the Nakdonggang , one of the larger rivers in South Korea. Then comes the city of Gumi with 375,000 inhabitants. Then the river Nakdong is crossed and not much further there is an intersection with Expressway 45, a north-south highway from Changwon to Chungju in the north and an alternative route to Seoul . The highway runs through Gimcheon , the center of South Korea, with only 2 × 3 lanes. This area is quite mountainous with narrow valleys and steep wooded slopes. This part of Expressway 1 is a concrete highway.

Daejeon

The highway then leads a bit to the west and then north and runs to the urban area of Daejeon , a city with 1.4 million inhabitants and one of the largest cities in the country that is not on the coast. Expressway 35 blends in on the east side of the city and is then part of the Ring of Daejeon. Expressway 1 and Expressway 35 will then be part of the northern ring road and will have a total of six lanes. The highway runs a little higher than the city on a slope because Daejeon is wedged between the mountains. On the north side of the city there is a cross with Expressway 251 , which forms the western ring of Daejeon and connects to Expressway 25 .

To the north of Daejeon there are again eight lanes available and the motorway leads through a wide valley. Expressway 30 , an east-west highway to Sangju, a small town in the east, ends about 25 kilometers north of Daejeon . Expressway 1 runs from here to the northwest with 2 × 3 lanes.

Expressway 1 then heads towards the west coast of South Korea, but still inland. Cheonan is a fairly large town with a population of 600,000, about 80 kilometers south of Seoul. After an intersection with Expressway 25, the motorway has eight lanes again. In Pyeongtaek it crosses Expressway 40 , an east-west highway from the ports of Pyeongtaek to Expressway 35 in the east. The first suburbs of Seoul are already in this area.

Seoul

At Osan the Expressway 400 , which runs to the south coast of Incheon , is crossed. Then the Expressway 50 will be crossed, an east-west highway from Incheon to Gangneung on the east coast of South Korea. The motorway has a total of ten lanes north of this intersection. This is followed by one of the largest toll booths in South Korea with 30 toll booths. There are many high-rise buildings along the highway, although it is still 30 kilometers from the center of Seoul. At Pangyo you cross Expressway 100 , the Seoul bypass . The motorway here is only expanded to eight lanes.

Between the southern suburbs and Seoul lies a wooded ridge that abruptly merges into the densely populated area in the south of Seoul. The expressway here crosses a series of wide boulevards through shamrocks and the freeway runs through numerous residential areas. Then it narrows to 2 × 3 lanes. The highway ends on the south bank of the Han River at a cross with the city highway Olympische-Hauptstraße ( City-route 88 ).

history

Construction of the highway began on February 1, 1968 under President Park . Two years later on July 7, 1970, the entire motorway was opened with 2 × 2 lanes.

Opening dates of the motorway
from	to	length	date
Suwon	Seoul	023.6 km	December 21, 1968
Osan	Suwon	014.2 km	December 30, 1968
Daejeon	Cheonan	068.0 km	May 12, 1969
Cheonan	Osan	038.1 km	29th September 1968
Busan	Daegu	122.1 km	19th December 1969
Daegu	Deajeon	149.8 km	July 7, 1970

Traffic volume

The volume of traffic on the motorway increases steadily from south to north from 37,000 to 222,000 vehicles per day.

Web links

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