Nation's 1st overpass becoming history
The Ahyeon Overpass is being demolished as part of a redevelopment program after 45 years of service linking Sinchon and Chungjeong-ro in Seodaemun District to downtown Seoul. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Joel Lee
The Ahyeon Overpass, a symbolic structure of the nation’s modernization in the late 1960s in Seoul, is being demolished as part of a “people-centered” redevelopment program.
Rising maintenance costs, traffic congestion, structural problems and inconvenience affecting residents and mom-and-pop shop owners are main factors behind the dismantlement.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) started demolishing the 940-meter overpass on Feb. 6 for completion by the end of March.
It has served as a passage between Sinchon and Chungjeong-ro in Seodaemun District to downtown Seoul for more than four decades since it was built in 1968. It will be replaced by bus-only lanes running 2.2 km and six car lanes.
Long-time residents and shop owners in the region welcomed the move although they regretted the loss of the historical landmark which has given them a lot of memories such as marches by demonstrators in the 1980s.
“I have lived in this area all my life. When it was first built in the late 1960s, many people were thrilled and welcomed its arrival. It was a symbol of modernizing Korea,” said Ryu Jung-oh, 66, a former ward official of Seodaemun District Office.
“The demolition of the overpass is a good move. Its presence has created a lot of suffering for the nearby residents and businesses. The imposing structure stigmatized the adjacent streets as a slum. It also limited access to sunlight for the stores around and beneath it, and the traffic was very noisy,” he added.
The Ahyeon Overpass was one of the major structures that were built between 1960s and 1990s to link the city center to the outskirts. At their height, the number of overpasses in Seoul reached 101.
However, they became objects of scorn as the urban planning paradigm shifted toward residents’ welfare, street-aesthetics, pedestrian-oriented streets and commercial vitalization.
“It’s a shift from the car-centered to people-centered paradigm. By being able to look up at a clear sky, citizens are being treated like respected human beings,” said Moon Suk-jin, chief of Seodaemun District Office.
In Seoul, a total of 15 overpasses have been demolished since 2002. The most celebrated example was the demolition of the Cheonggye Overpass, which preceded the construction of Cheonggye Stream under the initiative of then Mayor Lee Myung-bak.
The Yaksu Overpass and Seodaemun Overpass will be taken down this year.
“We may have heavier traffic congestion in the area during demolition. However the work falls properly in line with the policy direction of the city government, which aims to make driving in the city difficult and using public transportation easy,” said Kim Young-chan, a professor of transportation engineering at the University of Seoul.
“Taking down the overpass will not be the end of the problem. As a follow-up measure, a lot of effort must be put into monitoring traffic flow and adapting the signal and crossroad operation to the changing traffic patterns,” he added.
To commemorate the event, the Seoul Museum of History will be hosting an exhibition, “Adieu! Overpass”, between June 11 and July 20.