Busan-Seoul 5 hours on the afternoon of the last day of the holiday... The east coast section is especially crowded.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Eui-jin = On the afternoon of the 11th, the last day of the three-day Hangul Day holiday, vehicles returning to Seoul were congested in various places on the Seoul-bound highway. The situation is not as severe as last Chuseok holiday.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 4 p.m., the estimated travel time from major cities across the country to Seoul toll booths is 5 hours in Busan, 4 hours and 40 minutes in Ulsan, 4 hours and 20 minutes in Mokpo, 4 hours and 10 minutes in Gwangju, 4 hours in Daegu, and 2 hours and 30 minutes in Daejeon.

Conversely, the time from Seoul to each city is 4 hours 40 minutes for Busan, 4 hours 20 minutes for Ulsan, 3 hours 40 minutes for Mokpo, 3 hours 40 minutes for Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes for Gwangju, and 1 hour 40 minutes for Daejeon.

Compared to around 9 a.m., the time taken to Seoul by city increased by only about 10 minutes.

The Korea Road Corporation previously predicted that congestion would peak around 4 p.m. on this day, but the estimated travel time did not increase sharply.

On the morning of the 9th, the first day of the holiday, the travel time from Seoul to Busan was estimated to be 7 hours and 40 minutes.

However, as of 4 p.m. on this day, traffic in that section is extremely congested due to the influx of vehicles moving from the East Coast toward Seoul.

As of 4 p.m., it takes 4 hours and 50 minutes from Gangneung to the Seoul toll booth, which is expected to take more than 2 hours longer than the Gangneung direction (2 hours and 40 minutes).

The time taken from Yangyang to Namyangju has also increased to 3 hours and 50 minutes. On the other hand, the time it takes from Namyangju to Yangyang is estimated to be half that, at 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Major sections in the direction of Seoul that are congested include 14km between Oksan and Cheongju Rest Area on the Gyeongbu Expressway, 15km between Seorak and Hwado on the Seoul-Yangyang Expressway, and 18km near the Dangjin-Poseung Junction on the West Coast Expressway.

The corporation expected that 4.81 million vehicles would move across the country on this day.

It was estimated that 360,000 vehicles would move from the metropolitan area to the provinces and 480,000 units would move from the provinces to the metropolitan area.

The local direction is generally smooth, but a certain level of congestion is expected to continue in the Seoul direction until late afternoon.

Many vehicles are returning home one after another, causing congestion on major roads in downtown Seoul in the afternoon.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's traffic information system, the entire area of ​​Gangbyeonbuk-ro, from the northern end of Hangang Bridge to the northern end of Wonhyo, Mapo, Seogang, Yanghwa, and Seongsan Bridge, is at a standstill.

On the way down the road, vehicles are moving slowly in the area around Gayang Bridge and Wonhyo Bridge to Hangang Bridge.

In the upbound section of Olympic Expressway, congestion continues from the southern end of Yeongdong Bridge to the southern end of Seongsu, Dongho, and Hannam Bridges. Downbound traffic is relatively smooth.