With Chuseok comes packed roads

More than 49 million people will be on the move during the Chuseok holidays this year, which is a 2.9 percent increase compared with last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

“Traffic out of Seoul will be the busiest on the morning of Sept. 21 and the return to Seoul will be the worst from the afternoon of Sept. 22 to the afternoon of Sept. 23,” an official from the transportation ministry said.

The travel time from Seoul to Busan will be eight hours and the reverse route will take eight and a half hours. From Seoul to Daejeon, it will take four hours and Gwangju will require six and a half hours of travel time from Seoul, according to the ministry.

“The most frequented expressway will be Gyeongbu Expressway at 34.4 percent, followed by Seohaean Expressway at 15.9 percent. Jungbu Expressway will be the third-busiest one followed by Yeongdong Expressway,” said the official.

To help ease a massive traffic jam, bus-only lanes will be designated for 141 kilometer-sections (88 miles) between the southern end of the Hannam Bridge and the Sintanjin Interchange on Gyeongbu Expressway from 7 a.m. on Sept. 20 to midnight on Sept. 23, the transportation ministry said yesterday.

For more information, visit www.mltm.go.kr. Chuseok falls on Sept. 22 and the official national holidays span from Sept. 21 to Sept. 23.

By Kang Kap-saeng [hyemi82@joongang.co.kr]