Citizens are inconvenienced by the lack of a perfect bike lane that was supposed to be completed and connect Musimcheon to Cheongnamdae. This bike lane was planned to attract visitors to Cheongnamdae to help people move from Cheongju Musimcheon to Cheongnamdae by bike. The government of Chungbuk joined up with the governments of Cheongju and Cheongwon, and they were supposed to complete it by 2012 on a budget of approximately 20 billion won.
  However, after 2 years, the current situation is somewhat different from the initial plan. The bike lane is only completed through the Munui intersection, which is 10km from Cheongnamdae. Furthermore, beyond Munui intersection, lanes are mixed with bike lanes, sidewalks and roads. Also, there are no signs, so bike riders are confused. Moreover, there are not any amenities, such as restrooms or rest areas, so bike riders feel something is lacking.
  An unnamed bike enthusiast who is enthusiastic about bike riding to such an extent as to commute by bike said after using to the Musimcheon ~ Cheongnamdae bike lane, “Although there are lanes that are separated as bike lanes and sidewalks, there are many mixed lanes, so bike riders are exposed to accidents.” Also, he added another complaint, “There is a bike lane from Daejeon to Munui Daechungho. On the other hand, there is no bike lane from Cheongju to Daechungho, so bike riders who go from Cheongju to Daechungho are in very dangerous situations because of using roads.”
  The government of Cheongwon, which is in charge of the section from Musimcheon to Cheongnamdae, had the initial plan to connect Musimcheon with the entrance of Cheongnamdae, but the plan was revised because of troubles securing the budget. Now, the plan to connect the Munui intersection with the Goegok three-way intersection, which is 6.5km from the entrance of Cheongnamdae, is proceeding.
  If the bike lane had been completed with the initial plan, the bike lane might have been a tourist attraction of Chungbuk, but the current bike riders are dissatisfied.

By Lee Jun-ho / jh35@cbnu.ac.kr