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| On the left is an existing bike lane in Seoul near the northern end of Jamsu Bridge, and on the right is an upgraded path separating bikes and pedestrians, which is part of Seoul city's reconstruction project. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
By Bahk Eun-ji
Bike lanes along the Han River in Seoul will be completely separated from walking paths by 2023 in a move to improve safety for both cyclists and pedestrians.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will conduct a full-scale reconstruction project on a total of 78 kilometers of park paths in the capital ― 47.5 kilometers south of the Han River and 30.5 kilometers north of the river to achieve this.
The city government also plans to subdivide bike paths into leisure and transportation in accordance with their functions.
The plan is to create a leisure section with a high speed limit for users of personal mobility vehicles with relatively higher speeds, such as hybrid bicycles and electric scooters, and to prepare transportation routes for slower traffic, such as the city's public bike-sharing service Ttareungyi.
The local government plans to adjust the speed limit for each section, lowering it in some sections where accidents are frequent.
Four places with intersecting bike paths will also have traffic roundabouts.
Crosswalks in areas with a large number of pedestrians will be slightly elevated, and higher intensity lighting will be used to advise cyclists to slow down.
"Since late last year, personal mobility vehicles such as electric scooters have been allowed to run on bicycle paths, and there are concerns about pedestrian safety, so we decided to prepare safety measures," a city official said.
Over the past five years, the number of bicycle-related accidents in Han River parks has reached 105 annually, according to data released by the city government.
