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| ▲ A highway in Seoul is packed with cars traveling over the Lunar New Year holiday on Jan. 22, 2023. (Yonhap) |
holiday-traffic
Traffic congestion heavy on Lunar New Year
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- Highways across the nation were packed with cars on Sunday as people traveled to their hometowns to mark the Lunar New Year, while others were returning home following their visits.
As of 2 p.m., the travel time to Seoul was estimated at 7 hours and 50 minutes from Busan, 7 hours and 20 minutes from Ulsan, 6 hours and 40 minutes from Daegu, 6 hours and 10 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours and 50 minutes from Gangneung, and 4 hours and 10 minutes from Daejeon, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC).
In the opposite direction, the travel time was estimated at 7 hours and 20 minutes to Busan, 7 hours to Ulsan, 6 hours and 20 minutes to Daegu, 5 1/2 hours to Gwangju, 4 hours and 10 minutes to Gangneung, and 3 hours and 40 minutes to Daejeon.
The KEC said around 6.12 million cars were expected to hit the road throughout the day, with 490,000 traveling out of the capital region and 470,000 traveling into the capital region.
Outbound traffic is expected to ease around 8 to 9 p.m., while inbound traffic is expected to ease around 2 to 3 a.m. Monday after peaking at 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday, it said.
This year's extended Lunar New Year holiday runs from Saturday through Tuesday, with the nation celebrating its first such holiday without social distancing restrictions since the outbreak of COVID-19 three years ago.
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