The Jungang Expressway () is an

expressway in South Korea Expressways () in South Korea, officially known as National Expressways (), are controlled-access highways that form the highest level of the country's road network. Most sections are tolled and maintained by the Korea Expressway Corporation, ...

. Its name literally means "Central Expressway," and for much of its length it runs through mountainous terrain near the country's east-west center line, including the national parks of Chiaksan and

Sobaeksan Sobaeksan (Sobaek Mountain) is a mountain of the Sobaek Mountains, in South Korea. It lies between Danyang County in North Chungcheong Province and Yeongju in North Gyeongsang Province. It has an elevation of . The Korea Astronomy and Space ...

. It covers a total distance of roughly 388.1 kilometers. The southern end is in

Sasang-gu Sasang District () is a '' gu'' in central Busan, South Korea. It has an area of 35.84 km2, and a population of about 275,000. Sasang District became a ''gu'' of Busan in 1995. Administrative divisions Sasang District is divided into 8 l ...

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, although for much of the distance between

and

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

it runs together with the

Gyeongbu Expressway The Gyeongbu Expressway (; Asian Highway Network ) is the second oldest and most heavily travelled expressway in South Korea, connecting Seoul to Suwon, Daejeon, Gumi, South Korea, Gumi, Daegu, Gyeongju, Ulsan and Busan. It has the route numb ...

. Its northern end is in

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; literally ''spring river''), formerly romanized as Ch'unch'ŏn, is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the country, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River (Korea), Han R ...

, Gangwon Province. The expressway was completed in December 2001. There is also a short branch named

Jungang Expressway Branch The Jungang Expressway Branch () is an expressway in South Korea. It connects Gimhae to Yangsan of South Gyeongsang Province. The expressway's route number is 551. It link Namhae Expressway(Gimhae) and Gyeongbu Expressway(Yangsan). and doesn' ...

near the southern end. This is numbered 551.

~ Cheorwon section (63.0 km) is on the drawing boards.

History

* September 20, 1989 : Under Construction (Chuncheon ~ Daegu) * December 15, 1994 : Geumho JCT ~ Chilgok (6.1 km), S.Wonju ~ Manjong JCT (6.2 km) section opened the traffic. (2 Lanes) * August 29, 1995 : Chilgok ~ W.Andong (79.8 km), S.Jecheon ~ S.Wonju (30.1 km), Hongcheon~Chuncheon (25.2 km) Section opened the traffic. (2 Lanes) * July 1, 1999 : Gangseo Nakdongganggyo (br) (강서낙동강교, 1.6 km) opened the traffic. * September 16, 1999 : W.Andong ~ Yeongju section opened the traffic. * June 1, 2000 : Chilgok ~ W.Andong, Yeongju ~ Punggi (9.5 km), Jecheon ~ S.Wonju (37.6 km), Hongcheon ~ Chuncheon (26.2 km) opened the traffic. (4 Lanes) * February 12, 2001 : construction began on the Daegu-Busan Expressway segment * August 17, 2001 : Manjong JCT ~ Hongcheon (42.5 km) opened the traffic. * December 14, 2001 : Punggi ~ Jecheon (51.2 km) opened the traffic. * January 2005 : East Daegu Junction ~ East Daegu IC Section opened the traffic. * January 15, 2006 : East Daegu JCT ~ Daedong JCT (Daegu-Busan Expressway) section opened the traffic.

Information

Lanes

* Samnak IC ~ Chojeong IC, Daedong JC ~ E.Daegu JC, Geumho JC ~ Chuncheon IC : 4 Lanes * Chojeong IC ~ Daedong JC : 6 Lanes * E.Daegu JC ~ Geumho JC : 8 Lanes

Lengths

* Total: 388.10 km

Speed limit

* Samnak IC ~ Daedong JC, E.Daegu JC ~ Chuncheon IC : 100 km/h * Daedong IC ~ E.Daegu JC: 110 km/h

Daegu–Busan Expressway

The Daegu–Busan Expressway is a segment of the Jungang Expressway which runs north from

. Officially, it is part of the Jungang Expressway, but some maps use this name for this section. The estimated travel time between the two cities is roughly 1 hour, saving about half an hour over the previous travel time on the

. The toll for a passenger car is 8,500 won, slightly less than the cost of a KTX ticket between the two cities. Construction was completed in February 2006, at a total cost of slightly over 1 trillion won. The project was overseen by

Hyundai Development Company HDC Hyundai Development Company () was created in 2018 through a spin-off from HDC Group's holding company HDC Holdings. The company is active in real estate development, construction and hospitality. History HDC Hyundai Development Company ...

, also known as I-Park, which has promoted the project under the name "I-Way." It was heavily supported by loans from the Korean Road Infrastructure Fund operated by

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited (), more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX (). Macquarie's investment banking division is Au ...

. The term of the financing is 30 years. It has 4 lanes over a length of 82.05 km with a speed limit of 100 km/h.

List of facilities

* IC: Interchange, JC: Junction, SA: Service Area, TG:Tollgate ** Blue Section (■): reiteration section of

() ** (■): Daegu-Busan Expressway

References

External links

KEC
(

Korea Expressway Corporation Korea Expressway Corporation () is a South Korean corporation running the toll roads of South Korea. Timeline * 1968 – Started construction of Gyeongbu Expressway * 1969 – KEC founded (capital stock of 50billion won) * 1970 – Opened who ...

)
New Daegu Busan Expressway Co., Ltd. Official website

MOLIT

South Korean Government The government of South Korea () is the national government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and ...

Transport Department The Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong is a department of the civil service responsible for transportation-related policy in Hong Kong. The department is under the Transport and Logistics Bureau. The Transport Department was ...

Expressway profile in Korean
{{coord missing, South Korea Expressways in South Korea Transport in Busan South Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province Gangwon Province, South Korea Roads in Busan Roads in South Gyeongsang Roads in North Gyeongsang Roads in Daegu Roads in North Chungcheong Roads in Gangwon