ULSAN — Ulsan and the city of Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province have formed a joint front toward the central government to ease chronic congestion along National Highway No. 7, known locally as Saneop-ro, a corridor that carries heavy industrial freight. The two cities are stepping up policy coordination to win national-plan approval and timely completion for two highway projects backed by a combined 246.8 billion won ($178 million) in state funding.
Ulsan said on the 30th that the cooperation stems from talks between Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook and Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young on Sept. 16. The two local governments plan to adopt a joint declaration urging swift progress on the widening of the highway between the Ulsan border and Oedong in Gyeongju and on the construction of the Nongso-Oedong highway, and to deliver it to the central government.
The widening project would expand a 2.6-kilometer section linking Jungsan-dong in Ulsan's Buk-gu district to the Oedong interchange in Oedong-eup, Gyeongju, from four lanes to six. It carries 43 billion won in funding, all from the state. The area is a junction where Saneop-ro, Iye-ro and Autovalley-ro — main arterial roads in Ulsan — converge, and severe bottlenecks have persisted as traffic from 18 general and agro-industrial complexes in the Oedong area of Gyeongju, employing about 8,700 workers, overlaps with movement from residential areas home to roughly 10,000 people.
Ulsan asked the government in March 2023 to include the project in the sixth national and regional highway construction plan covering 2026 through 2030, and it was selected as a candidate project in February last year. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is reviewing the project's urgency and economic feasibility, and will decide whether to include it after a road policy deliberation council in the second half of this year.
The Nongso-Oedong highway project, pursued alongside the widening, calls for a new four-lane alternative bypass to disperse traffic on Saneop-ro. At a total cost of 203.8 billion won, all from state funds, it would connect a 5.9-kilometer section between Cheongok-dong in Ulsan's Buk-gu district, on Iye-ro, and the Gueo interchange in Oedong-eup, Gyeongju, on the alternative route to National Highway No. 7.
The project was selected in 2019 for exemption from a preliminary feasibility study under a national balanced development initiative and broke ground in April 2021. Excavation of the Cheonma tunnel, the core section, has been completed, and work is under way on a grade-separation bridge at the Cheongok interchange, with construction about 50% complete. The two cities plan to finish the grade separation in the first half of next year and to secure state funding on an annual basis to open the road in April 2028.
Once the network is complete, transport times for raw materials and finished goods between Ulsan's main industrial bases — including Hyundai Motor, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex — and parts and materials complexes in Gyeongju are expected to shorten, sharply improving corporate logistics competitiveness.
"Expanding the road network will produce combined effects, including lower logistics costs for companies, less traffic congestion and shorter commutes for workers," Kim said. "We will do everything we can in talks with the government to ensure that the widening project between the Ulsan border and Oedong in Gyeongju makes the final cut in the sixth national plan, and that the Nongso-Oedong highway is completed as planned."
