Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae has personally stepped in to address delays in the project extending Seoul Subway Line 7 to Cheongna International City. On the 10th, Park visited the construction site of Station 003, inspected the progress, and discussed schedule reduction measures with the contractors and the construction management team. The visit was intended to check on-site conditions ahead of a resident briefing scheduled for the 11th.
At the Station 003 site on the canalway beneath Jungbong Bridge, Park received a briefing on the project's status from the head of the Urban Railway Construction Headquarters. He then inspected major underground work sections, including the main tunnel. Wearing safety gear, he entered the work site to examine labor conditions amid the intense heat and urged workers to take care of their health, including preventing heat-related illnesses.
The meeting continued at the construction management team's situation room. Park reviewed the pending issues in Sections 3 and 6 with the contractors' site managers and chief engineers, and consulted on schedule reduction measures. Implementation plans to shorten the remaining schedule through city-level administrative support and process management, premised on safe construction, were reviewed.
"The Seoul Line 7 Cheongna extension is a long-cherished wish of residents, so I wanted to see the difficulties on-site firsthand ahead of the resident briefing," Park said. "Please actively pursue schedule recovery measures with safety as the top priority."
"Only measures that reflect the concerns of the field can earn the trust of citizens," he added. "The contractors, the construction management team, and the city of Incheon must become one team and implement measures suited to each section."
Based on the day's discussions, the Incheon Urban Railway Construction Headquarters plans to strengthen its cooperation system with the contractors and construction management team and concentrate administrative efforts on recovering the schedule.
