Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Seoul installs diagonal crosswalks at 25 intersections
Diagonal crosswalks are installed in front of Star Valley in Geumcheon District, Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it has been setting up diagonal crosswalks at 25 intersections across the city in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Diagonal crosswalks, in addition to reducing accidents, have the advantage of added pedestrian convenience as those on foot can cross in both diagonal and straight directions.
Earlier in April, the city government set up diagonal crosswalks in front of Yonsei University's main gate as a pilot project.
From July to Dec. 10, it installed more diagonal crosswalks at 21 intersections, including the roads near Jogye Temple and Jongno-gu Office. It will have completed three more by the end of the month.
Diagonal crosswalks allow pedestrians to cross the intersection in any direction with a single green walk signal. They shorten the time for pedestrians to cross the road and help prevent traffic accidents as vehicles cannot enter the intersections from any direction.
The time taken for cars to pass through the intersections is slightly increased, but it is not so long as to cause traffic jams, the city said.
The city government plans to have diagonal crosswalks at more locations to improve the environment for pedestrians, especially areas where there are many children or elderly people or where a large number of people visit, such as tourist destinations and shopping districts.
“The installation of diagonal crosswalks is an important project that puts pedestrians' safety and convenience first,” said Hwang Bo-yeon, director of the city's urban transport office. “We will continue to promote the people-centered transport policy.”