YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Yongsan Garrison officials have good news and bad news for those trying to exit the installation after work.
The good news is exiting Gate 17, near the hospital, will be a little easier thanks to a recent change to the turn signal. The bad news is that the traffic congestion at Gate 52, near the commissary, isn’t going to change.
Garrison spokesman David McNally said that the left-turn signal for those leaving Gate 17 will remain green five seconds longer between 4 and 6 p.m. daily to ease the flow of traffic off the base.
Seoul Metropolitan Police spokesman Kim Song-gi said the change was made after garrison officials filed a grievance with the city.
After observing traffic patterns at the gate, Seoul Metropolitan Police agreed a change was warranted and authorized the additional five seconds.
At Gate 52, Korean police manually control the traffic signal between 5:40 and 10 p.m. The priority for the police controlling the light, McNally said, is ushering rush-hour traffic out of Seoul.
“Our community needs to understand that this light is only a small part of the traffic flow to Banpo Bridge,” he said.
McNally recommended that commuters vary their exit times and try different gates.
