The City Council’s Road and Transportation Committee visited the Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 construction site on September 15.
While Phase 1 is nearing the final stages of construction, the civil engineering work for Phase 2 is still in its early stages.
The key issue in this inspection was not only how much construction had been completed, but also whether the allocated project funds could be spent in line with actual progress.
3-Line Summary
1. The overall progress rate for Phase 1 is 89.3%.
2. The civil engineering progress rate for Phase 2 is 13.1%.
3. The feasibility of spending the funds will be examined during the supplementary budget review.
The Different Paces of Phase 1’s 17㎞ and Phase 2’s 20㎞
The Road and Transportation Committee of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council inspected the Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 site ahead of its review of the supplementary budget proposal. The sites inspected by the committee were Station 207 in Section 3 of Phase 1 and the main-line Section 8 in Section 14 of Phase 2.
Phase 1 covers approximately 17㎞ from Gwangju City Hall through World Cup Stadium, Baekun Square, Chosun University, and Gwangju Station. The overall progress rate was presented as 89.3%, while the civil engineering progress rate was 98.9%. Since architectural work is still underway, the project as a whole cannot be considered complete based solely on the civil engineering figure.
Phase 2 covers approximately 20㎞ from Gwangju Station through Chonnam National University, Ilgok, Yangsan, Cheomdan, and Suwan districts to Gwangju City Hall. The civil engineering progress rate for this section is 13.1%. The committee examined not only the installation status of concrete structures, but also traffic management measures and construction-site safety management.
The difference in progress rates between the two phases means that, even though they are part of the same Line 2 project, the timing of required funding and on-site management differs. Rather than treating construction progress as a figure that confirms the opening date, it is more appropriate to read it as an indicator of which stages require budget allocation and safety management.
Repeated Carryovers and 300억 Won in Local Government Bonds
The committee pointed out that approximately 1,500억 won in carryover funds had been repeated over the past three years in the Urban Railway Project Special Account. The concern is that even if the budget has been secured, funds that cannot be spent during the year may be carried over to the following year if the payment schedule for each contract does not match actual construction progress.
The supplementary budget proposal also includes 300억 won in local government bonds for the construction of Urban Railway Line 2. The committee stated that it must jointly review the need for this amount, the possibility of spending it within the year, and the future burden of repaying principal and interest. This is not an announcement that the issuance of local government bonds or the budget allocation has been confirmed as an achievement; rather, it is an item to be examined during the supplementary budget review.
Kang Su-hoon, chair of the Road and Transportation Committee, mentioned the inconvenience to residents caused by the prolonged construction and said that progress, project costs, safety, and civil complaints must be managed together to reduce delays. Based on the site inspection, the committee plans to review the supplementary budget proposal and continue monitoring major construction stages and budget execution. The point to watch most closely in this project is not the high Phase 1 progress rate itself, but whether funds can be executed in line with progress at each stage and the burden of delays reduced.
References
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