Gangseo-gu District Mayor Jin Kyo-hoon attended a public information meeting Wednesday at the Hwagok 2-dong Community Center on plans to install accessibility facilities for mobility-impaired residents in the hillside area around Hwagok-dong 487.
"Even walking on flat ground is hard in this kind of heat wave, so I feel a deep sense of responsibility to push this project forward with real substance when I think about how many people have struggled with the steep slopes all this time," Jin said. "I will do my best to relieve the difficulties that people with limited mobility face because of the hillside terrain."
The district held the public meeting to present its draft implementation plan and gather broad input from local residents before formally launching the project.
About 50 residents from the neighboring Hwagok 2-dong and 4-dong areas attended the session, which covered the proposed elevator installation plan and included a question-and-answer segment.
The Hwagok-dong 487 area has long posed significant challenges for elderly residents, pregnant women and others with limited mobility, owing to slopes of more than 33 degrees and more than 100 steps.
The district was selected for the Seoul Metropolitan Government's hillside accessibility facility installation project and plans to use the full project budget of 4 billion won ($2.73 million) to install a 16.5-meter-tall, 15-person elevator and a 51-meter connecting pedestrian bridge.
Basic and detailed design work is currently underway, with ground-breaking targeted for February 2027 and completion set for June of that year.
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