Uijeongbu City in Gyeonggi Province announced on January 11 that it has been selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT's "2026 Overhead Cable Maintenance Project," enabling the city to clear cluttered power and communication lines from its downtown area without spending municipal funds.
The competitive grant program targeted cities and counties nationwide with populations under 500,000. An evaluation committee comprising academics, government officials, and researchers assessed each municipality's maintenance plans. Ten local governments were selected nationwide, with Uijeongbu allocated up to 2 billion won of the total 20 billion won project budget.
Korea Electric Power Corporation, telecommunications carriers, and local cable companies will cover all maintenance costs.
The project covers five zones totaling 421,775.6 square meters. The most urgent area is Rodeo Street and the western side of Jeil Market, spanning 89,374.4 square meters, where store signs, awnings, and overhead cables are tangled together, making it difficult to secure critical response time during fires.
The area south of Uijeongbu Jungang Station, covering 75,220.9 square meters, has dense aerial lines near light rail pillars that create high interference risks during maintenance. The commercial district north of Uijeongbu Station, spanning 78,112.1 square meters, requires infrastructure reorganization due to mixed building heights obstructing views.
Construction will run from March through November. Before breaking ground, the city plans to conduct joint precision inspections with KEPCO and telecommunications providers to finalize zones requiring the most urgent attention. Key tasks include removing defunct lines, replacing aging utility poles, and organizing tangled communication cables.
"This selection will transform Uijeongbu's streets into cleaner and safer spaces," said Shim Kyung-yi, head of the city's AI Convergence Information Division. "We will prepare thoroughly from the site inspection phase to deliver urban environment improvements that residents can feel."
The city plans to work closely with contractors to minimize noise and traffic disruptions during the project and will actively communicate with residents.