Chuseok evening: Outbound traffic eases, but return trip to Seoul takes up to 5 hours 50 minutes

Outbound highway congestion largely eased Friday evening, the chuseok holiday itself, while traffic heading back to Seoul thickened across multiple routes.

According to Yonhap and the Korea Expressway Corporation, estimated travel times from the Seoul tollgate as of 7 p.m. Friday were 4 hours 30 minutes to Busan, 4 hours 10 minutes to Ulsan, 3 hours 30 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes to Gwangju, 2 hours 40 minutes to Gangneung, 1 hour 50 minutes to Daejeon and 3 hours 40 minutes to Mokpo.

The return trip to Seoul took considerably longer. Estimated travel times were 5 hours 50 minutes from Busan, 5 hours 30 minutes from both Ulsan and Mokpo, 5 hours 10 minutes from Gwangju, 4 hours 50 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes from Daejeon and 3 hours from Gangneung.

On the Gyeongbu Expressway, southbound traffic was backed up for 2.68 kilometers near Singal Junction and 4.39 kilometers near Giheung-Dongtan IC. Northbound traffic was crawling along a 7.5-kilometer stretch near Oksan Junction and an 11-kilometer section between Hwalcheon and Gyeongju.

The West Coast Expressway also saw lengthy northbound delays — 13.93 kilometers near West Gimje IC, 15 kilometers between East Gunsan and East-West Cheon Junction, and 17 kilometers from Songak IC to Poseung Junction, with additional slowdowns near Buan and Gwangcheon.

Rain compounded by heavy traffic snarled major roads inside Seoul as well. On Olympic Boulevard, congestion stretched from the East Outer Ring Junction to the south end of Yeongdong Bridge, from there to the south end of Seongsu Bridge, and from the south end of Hannam Bridge to the south end of Banpo Bridge. Gangbyeon North Road was backed up between the north end of Dongho Bridge and the north end of Banpo Bridge. Traffic also moved slowly on the Northern Outer Ring Road between Mukdong IC and Wolleung IC, and on the Inner Circular Road between Hongjae Ramp and Yeonhui Ramp.

The Korea Expressway Corporation forecast that outbound congestion would clear around 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, while the return-trip backup was expected to ease around 2 to 3 a.m. Saturday.

Nationwide traffic volume Friday was projected at around 6.84 million vehicles. The corporation estimated that about 470,000 vehicles would travel from the greater Seoul area to regional destinations, while about 460,000 would make the trip in the opposite direction.