Hwaseong City Resolves Traffic Inconvenience at Paltan Intersection on National Route 43 Through Citizen Ombudsman Mediation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Hwaseong City announced on the 10th that the Citizen Ombudsman Commission has presented solutions through "mediation" opinions in response to concerns from residents about significant traffic inconvenience anticipated at the Paltan Intersection due to the Paltan-Bongdam road widening project by the Seoul Regional Land Management Administration.

At a site adjustment meeting for citizen complaints on traffic safety measures held at the Bongdam-eup Office on June 9th, Vice Chairman Lee Jung-hee of the Citizen Ombudsman Commission and officials from the Seoul Regional Land Management Administration attended and discussed solutions to address the inconvenience being experienced by residents.

The Citizen Ombudsman Commission confirmed that Deok 2-ri and Deok-u-ri form one living area where residents frequently travel between the villages and farm, and mediated so that residents can cross a nearby intersection and travel to the adjacent village without having to make long detours.

The Seoul Regional Land Management Administration agreed to actively cooperate in solving the problem by establishing a new auxiliary road to replace the existing tunnel box.

In particular, the newly constructed auxiliary road will be connected in close proximity to a four-way intersection, with appropriate slope and width secured and opened at a suitable location. Traffic safety measures will also be established, including providing sufficient turning radius near the point where the auxiliary road connects and installing traffic guidance signs.

Until now, residents of Deok 2-ri and Deok-u-ri villages have faced inconvenience requiring approximately 1 km of detour when moving vehicles from Deok 2-ri to Deok-u-ri due to the closure of the passage culvert following the Paltan-Bongdam road widening project on National Route 43. After requesting intersection improvements from the Seoul Regional Land Management Administration without success, they filed a collective civil complaint with the Citizen Ombudsman Commission in February.

Additionally, the Construction Team of Bongdam-eup in Hwaseong City and National Assembly member Song Ok-joo continuously sought solutions to improve the intersection by suggesting the establishment of an auxiliary road so that agricultural machinery could enter the intersection at the Seoul Regional Land Management Administration, thereby leading to this mediation.