Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Residents near Starfield Suwon complain about traffic congestion
Starfield Suwon in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, is crowded with visitors on its second day of opening, Saturday. Screenshot from internet
By Lee Hae-rin
Starfield Suwon, the massive shopping mall that launched in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on Friday, is facing growing complaints from local residents as well as visitors regarding traffic congestion and safety issues.
The fifth and latest addition to the Starfield shopping complexes in the country, operated by the retail giant Shinsegae Group, spans eight floors underground and eight floors above ground, becoming thus far the largest shopping mall in the city at the size of 46 football stadiums with a gross floor area of 331,000 square meters.
As the shopping mall drew consumers’ attention even before the official opening, Starfield Suwon and the Suwon city government made an extra driveway and implemented a smart traffic signal control system around the mall to minimize traffic problems.
Despite the preventive measures, the neighborhood still remained heavily congested, as traffic infrastructure around the mall appeared to be insufficient to handle a large influx of visitors.
The three lanes narrow into a single lane at the entry of Starfield Suwon, while the roads around the facility are still under construction, according to local residents.
On the day of opening, the mall’s parking lot capable of accomodating 4,500 cars was already full at noon, two hours after opening.
The mall attracted even more crowd over the first weekend since its opening, as more than a quadruple of the number of expected visitors flocked. Most of the restaurants there had to close early after running out of ingredients.
This led the city government to send an emergency text message at 2 p.m. on Saturday, advising people around the shopping mall to make a detour citing safety concerns due to heavy traffic.
“I live around the neighborhood (of Starfield Suwon) and I cannot go out because the roads are packed with cars for over a kilometer from here,” a local resident wrote on social media.
Another resident wrote, "The mall is located in a residential area with many apartment complexes that have narrow roads. The growing traffic could lead to traffic accidents."
Complaints were raised not only from local residents but also from some visitors.
One visitor wrote that it "takes an hour to get in and another hour to get out of the parking lot."
In response, police said they will deploy personnel around the mall for the time being to minimize congestion.