Traffic to hometowns eases, back to cities still heavy on Chuseok evening
Heavy traffic clogs the outbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC, Seoul, Wednesday, ahead of the Chuseok holiday. Yonhap
Expressway traffic headed to people's hometowns eased somewhat Friday evening, the second day of the Chuseok holiday, though traffic back to the cities remained heavy, the expressway operator said.
As of 7 p.m., travel times from Seoul were estimated at 4.5 hours to the southeastern city of Busan, four hours and 10 minutes to Ulsan, three hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, 3.5 hours to Daegu, and three hours and 20 minutes to Gwangju, according to the Korea Expressway Corp.
This year's holiday for Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, runs from Thursday to Sunday. The holiday is marked by visits to hometowns, family reunions, ancestral rites and traditional holiday foods.
Trips to Seoul were expected to take five hours and 50 minutes from Busan, 5.5 hours from both Mokpo and Ulsan, and five hours and 10 minutes from Gwangju.
The state-run company said traffic congestion on roads leaving the Seoul area was expected to clear between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., and in the opposite direction, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. the following day.
An estimated 6.84 million vehicles were expected to travel on roads nationwide Friday, including about 470,000 leaving the greater Seoul area and 460,000 heading toward the capital area from other regions.