Gov. Park meets project consortium, urges early progress and stronger administrative cooperation
South Chungcheong Province is stepping up cooperation with the consortium behind the Taean-Anseong privately funded expressway to accelerate the project and advance follow-up administrative procedures.
Gov. Park Soo-hyun met Wednesday with representatives of the original proposing consortium for the Taean-Anseong expressway at the provincial government office, where they reviewed the project's progress and discussed ways to ensure its smooth advancement.
The privately funded expressway will run 94.6 kilometers as a four-lane road, connecting Taean-eup in Taean-gun to Miyang-myeon in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, passing through five cities and counties in South Chungcheong Province — Seosan, Yesan, Dangjin, Asan and Cheonan. The total project cost is 3.71 trillion won ($2.62 billion), with ground-breaking targeted for 2031.
The project cleared its first major hurdle in June, passing a private investment feasibility review. It will now proceed through a series of follow-up steps, including a strategic environmental impact assessment, a third-party proposal announcement, selection of a negotiating partner, and the conclusion of an implementation agreement and design work.
The province plans to work with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and other relevant agencies to proactively manage key issues such as environmental concerns and civil complaints, keeping administrative procedures on track toward a timely ground-breaking.
At the meeting, Park asked the consortium to expand opportunities for local construction and building-materials companies in South Chungcheong Province to participate in the project, in order to maximize its economic impact on the region.
He also urged the consortium to actively consider prioritizing the Taean-Seosan section to promote balanced regional development and boost tourism and the maritime industry.
"The Taean-Anseong privately funded expressway is a key project that will dramatically improve traffic access in the northwestern part of South Chungcheong Province and drive balanced regional development as well as tourism and industrial growth," Park said, calling on all parties to work together to get the project on track as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, the province expects that once the expressway opens, it will connect Taean — the only area in the province without a highway — to the broader regional road network, easing inconvenience for residents, significantly cutting travel time from the Greater Seoul area to Taean, and boosting tourism along the West Sea coast.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
