Gyeonggi provides toll-free holiday on 3 roads, pushes for permanent bridge fee cut
Published: 13 Feb. 2026, 15:46
![Night view of Ilsan Bridge [ILSAN BRIDGE CORPORATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/13/ddc76da0-6bce-4388-8c72-9296c0683dd8.jpg)
Night view of Ilsan Bridge [ILSAN BRIDGE CORPORATION]
The Gyeonggi Provincial Government will waive tolls during the Lunar New Year holidays on three privately financed roads — the West Suwon-Uiwang Expressway, the Third Gyeongin Expressway and Ilsan Bridge.
The toll-free period will run for 96 hours, from 12:01 a.m. Sunday through midnight Wednesday, the provincial government said Friday.
Drivers can use the roads as usual, with vehicles equipped with Hi-Pass using Hi-Pass lanes and others passing through toll booths. The province expects about 1.39 million vehicles to use the three routes during the toll-free period — 430,000 on the West Suwon-Uiwang Expressway, 720,000 on the Third Gyeongin Expressway and 240,000 on Ilsan Bridge.
Since the Lunar New Year holiday in 2017, the province has offered toll-free passage during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok harvest holiday every year, except during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are providing convenience for road users — including people traveling to their hometowns and tourists — by offering free passage on privately financed roads managed by the province during the Lunar New Year holiday,” said Lee Yong-won, head of Gyeonggi’s road policy division. “I hope everyone has a warm and comfortable holiday.”
Gyeonggi is also pushing to make Ilsan Bridge toll-free after cutting tolls by 50 percent this year. The province, after consulting with the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, earmarked 20 billion won ($13.9 million) in this year’s main budget and from Feb. 1 lowered the passenger-car toll on Ilsan Bridge from 1,200 won to 600 won.
“Gimpo has already signaled its intention to take part partially, and Paju has also expressed an active willingness to participate,” Gov. Kim Dong-yeon said after visiting Ilsan Bridge on Feb. 2 to check traffic conditions. “We will discuss matters with Goyang and push actively to reduce the remaining half as well.”
![Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon visits Ilsan Bridge on Feb. 2 and checks traffic conditions. [GYEONGGI PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/13/5fefc578-a417-4cc2-afc1-334cacc0b95f.jpg)
Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon visits Ilsan Bridge on Feb. 2 and checks traffic conditions. [GYEONGGI PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT]
“The central government has also shown interest and included funding for a study in this year’s budget,” said Kim, adding the province would pursue a plan to make the bridge permanently toll-free by bringing in the central government as well.
Under the toll cut, passenger cars and vans with 16 seats or fewer saw tolls reduced from 1,200 won to 600 won; trucks from 1,800 won to 900 won; larger trucks of 10 tons or more from 2,400 won to 1,200 won; and compact vehicles from 600 won to 300 won.
Gyeonggi Provincial Government said the move reflects a policy decision driven by the view that transportation is directly tied to people’s day-to-day lives — despite the structural constraints of Ilsan Bridge’s private-finance model and complicated legal disputes.
“The toll cut appears to be having an effect, reporting that traffic was up by about 6,300 vehicles compared with Jan. 1 last year — roughly a 12 percent increase,” said Lee Jae-young, chief executive of Ilsan Bridge Company. “It may have increased because the toll was cut in half.”
Ilsan Bridge is a privately financed toll road that connects Beopgot-dong in Ilsanseo District, Goyang, and Geolpo-dong in Gimpo across a downstream section of the Han River over 1.84 kilometers (1.14 miles). It opened in May 2008.
![Morning rush-hour traffic on Ilsan Bridge, the only bridge over the Han River that requires a toll. [GIMPO CITY GOVERNMENT]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/13/756353ab-9a6c-43cb-acda-e5f7b25037a3.jpg)
Morning rush-hour traffic on Ilsan Bridge, the only bridge over the Han River that requires a toll. [GIMPO CITY GOVERNMENT]
But as the only toll crossing among Han River bridges — and with toll fees three to four times higher than other routes — it drew resident backlash. Then-Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae Myung, now president, signed off on a public-interest order on Oct. 26, 2021, shortly before stepping down as governor, in a bid to make the bridge toll-free.
In 2024, however, the Supreme Court ruled against Gyeonggi in an administrative lawsuit in which the province sought to uphold the public-interest order, bringing the toll-free push to a halt.
“I made it toll-free when I was governor, but once I quit it was immediately restored,” said then-presidential candidate Lee during a campaign stop in the Goyang-Paju area in May of last year as a presidential candidate. “If I do it as president, who would stop me? I’ll take care of it as quickly as possible.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEON ICK-JIN, CHOI MO-RAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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