Yongin Speeds Up Road Network for Semiconductor Complex... 8 Expressway and Expressway-Grade Road Projects Clear Key Hurdles

Yongin Selecting Contractor for National Highway 45 Widening Project
Construction on Yangji Section of National Highway 17 Targeted to Begin Next Year
140 Urban Planning and Rural Road Projects Underway in Cheoin-gu
Mayor Lee Sangil Writes to Tra

Road network expansion is accelerating in the area around Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where a mega semiconductor industrial complex is being built. Eight expressway and high-speed road projects passing through Yongin have cleared key administrative procedures, including preliminary feasibility studies and reviews of their suitability for private investment. Access roads to the semiconductor industrial complex and roads connecting local communities are also being built or expanded.

Yongin Special City's Major Road Network Construction Plan. Provided by Yongin City.

Yongin Special City, headed by Mayor Lee Sang-il, said on October 14 that it is building an integrated transport network to support the semiconductor industrial complex, linking expressways with national highways, national local routes, provincial roads, urban planning roads and rural roads.

According to the city, on October 2, the Second Yongseo Expressway project, which will connect the Seosuji Tollgate and the Geumto Tollgate over 9.6 km, passed a review of its suitability for private investment conducted by the Public and Private Infrastructure Investment Management Center (PIMAC) at the Korea Development Institute (KDI). This brings to eight the number of expressway and high-speed road projects passing through Yongin that have cleared either a preliminary feasibility study or a private investment suitability review: seven expressway projects and one high-speed road project.

The projects are the Gyeongbu Underground Expressway, the Semiconductor Expressway, the Yongin-Seongnam Expressway, the Yongin-Chungju Expressway, the Uiwang-Yongin-Gwangju Expressway, the Second Yongseo Expressway, the Yongin-Osan Expressway and the Yongin-Gwangju High-Speed Road. The city expects five of these roads to help improve traffic conditions in Cheoin-gu.

The Gyeongbu Underground Expressway and the Semiconductor Expressway are the cornerstones of the grid-style road network. The 26.1-km Gyeongbu Underground Expressway will run underground along the Gyeongbu Expressway between Giheung Interchange and Yangjae Interchange. It passed a preliminary feasibility study in 2024, and a feasibility study by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is now underway.

The 45.3-km Semiconductor Expressway will run from Yanggam in Hwaseong through Namsa and Idong in Yongin to Iljuk in Anseong. It completed a private investment suitability review last year, in 2025, and is now at the strategic environmental impact assessment stage. The Yongin-Chungju Expressway, spanning 55.0 km, and the 32-km Uiwang-Yongin-Gwangju Expressway have also passed private investment suitability reviews and are undergoing strategic environmental impact assessments.

The 17.3-km Yongin-Gwangju High-Speed Road is being pursued as an alternative to ease traffic congestion on National Local Route 57. It has passed a private investment suitability review and a strategic environmental impact assessment, and PIMAC has completed its review of a third-party proposal.

Expansion of national and provincial roads connecting to the semiconductor industrial complex is also underway. In August 2024, the government decided to exempt the project to widen a 12.5-km section of National Route 45 between Nam-dong and Jangseo in Cheoin-gu to six to eight lanes from a preliminary feasibility study. The Seoul Regional Office of Construction Management is currently selecting a contractor so construction can begin.

The project to widen a 3.08-km section of National Route 17 from Yangji Interchange on the Yeongdong Expressway to Pyeongchang Intersection to six lanes, providing access to the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Wonsam-myeon, has completed its design. Construction is targeted to begin next year, in 2027.

An improvement project covering 12.3 km of National Local Route 57 between Mapyeong and Wonsam passed a preliminary feasibility study in August 2026. The project involves building a tunnel through Gopdeung Pass and adjusting the road alignment around Unhak-ri. The city expects it to be included in the 6th National Road and National Local Route Construction Plan this year, in 2026.

Construction of a new four-lane, 6.4-km section of National Local Route 84 linking Cheon-ri in Idong-eup with Dongtan New Town is more than 85% complete in the Yongin section. The road is scheduled to open at the end of 2028. Design work is underway on a 5.1-km project to build and expand National Local Route 82, which will connect to the national industrial complex in Chang-ri, Namsa-eup. Compensation is expected to begin next year, in 2027.

Plans are underway to widen sections of Provincial Route 321, which connects Cheoin-gu from north to south, to four lanes. Detailed design work is underway on the section between Maesan-ri in Mohyeon-eup and Yuun-ri in Pogok-eup, while a feasibility assessment is being conducted for the section between Yeokbuk-dong and Seori in Idong-eup. Design work on the section between Seori in Idong-eup and Wanjang-ri in Namsa-eup is expected to be completed by next year, in 2027, with compensation scheduled to begin in 2028.

Exterior view of Yongin Special City Hall. Provided by Yongin City.

A feasibility study is also underway for a project to widen the 5.53-km Yongin section of Provincial Route 318, which runs from Dokseong-ri in Wonsam-myeon through Baegam to Icheon. Construction is targeted to begin in the second half of 2028.

Expansion of local roads is proceeding in parallel. The city is pursuing 140 road construction projects in Cheoin-gu: 89 urban planning roads and 51 rural roads. Two urban planning roads, Nami Small Road 1-4 in Bang-a-ri, Namsa-eup, and Yongin Small Road 3-77 near Gorim Bridge in Gorim-dong, are scheduled for completion this year, in 2026. Design, compensation and construction procedures are underway for the remaining projects, section by section.

On October 13, Mayor Lee Sang-il sent a letter to Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Ji-sun requesting government support to expand transport links to the semiconductor cluster. The city said Lee has continued to urge the central government to expedite road projects since the start of his eighth-term administration.

A Yongin City official said, “Urbanization is proceeding rapidly in Cheoin-gu, which is at the heart of South Korea’s semiconductor industry. We are working to build major arterial roads and to develop urban planning roads and rural roads as well.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.