Expansion of National Highway No. 45 Cutting Through Yongin Semiconductor Cluster Takes Shape

The expansion of National Highway No. 45, a key infrastructure facility cutting through the ‘Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex’ in Idong-eup and Namsa-eup, Yongin Special City, has taken shape.

Yongin Special City (Mayor Lee Sang-il) announced on the 12th that the National Highway No. 45 expansion project was recently put out to bid on a turnkey (combined design and construction bidding) basis, commissioned by the Seoul Regional Construction Management Administration.

The National Highway No. 45 expansion project is a road construction project that will expand a 12.53 km section running from the Namdong Daechon Intersection in Cheoin-gu, through the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex, to the Jangseo Intersection in Yangseong-myeon, Anseong City, from the existing four lanes to up to six to eight lanes. It is a large-scale national project with a total construction cost of 891.1 billion won.

There have been consistent calls for the early advancement of the National Highway No. 45 expansion project, as increased traffic volume is expected from large-scale development projects such as the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex and the creation of the Yongin Idong Public Housing District.

After announcing its plan to build the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex on March 15, 2023, the city repeatedly requested that the government exempt the project from the preliminary feasibility study, arguing that National Highway No. 45, a key road cutting through the national industrial complex, should be expanded early.

At the 5th meeting of the national industrial complex pan-governmental task force on February 28, 2024, and the 6th meeting of the pan-governmental task force on May 22, Mayor Lee Sang-il emphasized that National Highway No. 45 should be exempted from the preliminary feasibility study so that part of the road expansion could be completed before the operation of the national industrial complex’s first fab.

On June 26, 2024, the government announced its decision to exempt the National Highway No. 45 expansion project from the preliminary feasibility study and to provide state funding, and the exemption from the preliminary feasibility study was confirmed on August 22 of that year.

Mayor Lee Sang-il said, “In the semiconductor industry, speed is life and time is a subsidy, so we must also accelerate the expansion of infrastructure such as roads,” adding, “Considering that overseas competitors such as China’s Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and the United States’ Micron are rapidly catching up with Korea’s semiconductor anchor companies (leading companies), we must hasten the creation of the Yongin national industrial complex and the expansion of related infrastructure.”