Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kiwiduncan]

I read about a year ago of plans to reduce the number of traffic lanes Sejeongno (the big road from Gwanghwamun to the Kyobo builiding) and built wider pavements and new pedestrian plazas. Here's what it might look like.


It's nice to see some of the improvements being made on in Seoul.

[Bibbitybop]

Progress? The traffic on Sejeongno is already horrible. Reducing lanes won't help, but it will add more motorcycle to the sidewalks.

[kiwiduncan]

Yeah, the motorbikes on the pavements could be a problem.

What they really need to do in Seoul is consider some kind of congestion charging (maybe Chongro and Apgujeong would be good areas to start with) and rewire all the pedestrian crossing and lights so that pedestrians don't have to wait five minutes every time they want to cross the road.

[kiwiduncan]

Here's a TV news link showing the proposed changes

http://tvpot.daum.net/clip/ClipView.do?clipid=5708004&searchType=0&page=1&rowNum=2&sort=wtime&svctype=1&q=%EA%B4%91%ED%99%94%EB%AC%B8+%EA%B4%91%EC%9E%A5

[Hyeon Een]

Where do the cars go?

Well, they test this out about once a month whenever there's a smallish protest. They close the roads and re-direct the traffic. When they do this even riding a motorcycle doesn't help.. the buses are parked so tight together you'd have to climb across to break the barrier.

I made the mistake, one protest, of following a motorcycle delivery driver. Me and him made an Odyssey in Jongro. We found every impassable street in the -gu and tried to cross it. I lost my bike-brother when he went ahead and went down a 50 step stair case and upon reaching the bottom gave me a thumbs down with regards to onwards progress. I rode off into the sunset. (By which I mean I hit a tin wall of rent-a-cop-military-service-busses.) I eventually chose the opposite direction to that which the polis directed me.

Anyway, I'm all for the new changes as long as they get rid of the riot busses so I can ride my motorcycle down the 30 lane sidewalk-expressway. (And maybe I'd take an OPTIONAL stroll there every now and then as opposed to the forced ones I've had to endure in the past)

[seoulsucker]

Fewer lanes = less traffic????

Sounds familiar...

Fewer trash cans = less trash

It's like Wile E. Coyote is in charge of urban development.

[kiwiduncan]

Just spotted another image of how the remodelled road will look.

[seoulsucker]

Someone needs to photoshop gridlock, bailed motorcycles and splattered bodies on the sidewalk into this pic, STAT.

Oh yeah, and about 200 buses with chicken wire and 1000 riot police squatting in front of the US Embassy.

[kiwiduncan]

I see they've started working on the new plaza now. I asked one of the Korean construction workers what will happen to the lovely big trees in the middle of the street and hed said they would transplant them somewhere else. That sounds like it'll be difficult and expensive, with a good chance that the trees will fail to take root somewhere else, but good on Seoul City Hall for making the effort rather than just cutting them down.

[Suwoner10]

[Suwoner10]

BTW, English Arirang vid about this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

[kiwiduncan]

[hogwonguy1979]

its going to stink to high heaven, i use it everyday to get to work and cant imagine how bad the traffic is going to be. its bad now at rush hour and i cant imagine bow much worse its going to be

sparkling

[kiwiduncan]