'Sliming the roads' An idea of Kwangwoon University students to change the road and sidewalk for better 

When it rains, people's umbrellas get tangled to make a mess. (A breathtaking scenery stretched out on a 317m long and 1m wide single road. This is the story of Gwangun-ro 1-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul.   

This year, the sidewalk, where two adults can barely pass side by side, will change. Nowon-gu, in charge of managing the road, accepts the idea of 'sliming the road' proposed by six Kwangwoon University students. After two years of tenacious work, the achievements of college students were remarkable. Nowon-gu decided to start the construction this year to widen the sidewalk to a maximum of 2m by spending 2.3 billion won.

I met students who changed Gwangun-ro 1-gil at 2 pm. Those students who changed Gwangun-ro 1-gil came for the interview on the first day of September. In 2009, Kwangwoon University built the Nuri Building, the Faculty of Business Administration near the residential area, which is only a 12 to 15-minute walk from the main campus. More than 800 students from the Faculty of Business Administration and students of various majors taking classes at the building used a “shortcut” rather than Gwangun-ro 1-gil to save about five minutes.

The problem was that this shortcut was the playground of Kwangwoon Electronics Technical High School, right next to Nuri Building. Physical education classes were disturbed as the students ran across the playground. The high school closed the playground in 2017 when residents were also using the playground as a walking path and even riding motorcycles for delivery. The reason for closing the playground was to guarantee students’ right to study. Now that the “shortcut” was blocked, the college students were in a distressing situation. The Gwangun-ro 1-gil sidewalk was only 1m wide. It was so narrow that only two adults could pass by, and next to it was a roadway with countless buses and cars. 15 minutes break between the classes was not enough to walk from the main campus to Nuri Building. Students need to walk briskly to barely make it to class on time. The school bulletin board was flooded with the complaints over that cramped route to Nuri.

“Why should we struggle for the sake of college students?”

The Student Council of Business School took action. Lee Jong-hyun (23), the student council president of the College of Business Administration at the time, decided to request a 'playground reopening'. The width of the sidewalk, the distance from the Nuri Building to the main campus, and the average travel time were measured. In December 2017, a meeting with the high school student council was arranged to reopen the playground. But things did not go as planned. The question of "why should high school students suffer for kwangwoon students to go to classes?" came up. The student council had no choice but to accept the argument of the 'younger brothers and sisters' right to study.

A breakthrough came from elsewhere when Cho Sun-young, the chairman of Kwangwoon Foundation, suggested to provide students council with an expert advisory group, and support them to carry out a project to solve the road problem.  “I was surprised to see the enormous amount of research data brought by the student council,” said the Chairman Cho who saw the extensive documents with the survey results of 200 people and field measurement data.

After much consideration, Lee, the chairman of the student council, decided to take on the challenge and   find an 'alternative solution' rather than reopening the playground. He set-up the 'Avengers Team'. Yoo Ji-na (22), the vice president of the Student Council of Business Administration, and Jae-won Heo (23), a fourth-year student, and Won-joon Choi, Seok-hee Lee, and Chae-sun Park,  three 22-year-old seniors, jumped in. It was not certain when it would end, and they had to postpone their plans for job preparation and enlistment. However, the student council could not give up the opportunity to resolve the school route problem. They spent a whole two years or so trying to find similar cases and come up with proposals for the residents to accept. As Professor Jeong Seok-jae of the Department of Business Administration stepped in providing advice, the proposals were gradually concreted.

University students attracted 2.3 billion won funding

Students proposed 'sliming' Gwangun-ro 1-gil road. The proposal was to widen the sidewalk to 1.5~2m, which is only 1m wide, reduce the width of the two-lane road by 6m, and install braille blocks so that the visually handicapped could also safely travel. The proposal suggested adjusting the speed limit of the road to below 60km/h, burying 8 telephone poles, 4 telecommunications poles and various wires into the ground. It also included installing solar streetlamps in the alleys of residential areas. Building antislip pedestrian roads for high school students was also requested. Chairman Cho said, "I wasn't sure if the proposal would be approved as it was somewhat tough deal to accept for the Nowon-gu office."

Last year, the student council invited residents and student councils from nearby schools to hold public hearing. They believed that it was impossible to change the path of the area "without consent” from neighbors involved. Upon receiving the proposal, Nowon-gu decided in April to spend 2.3 billion won to improve the road. An official from Nowon-gu explained, "The district office has been planning a road improvement project since 2018 due to the accumulation of complaints from residents on Gwangun-ro 1-gil. It was made possible in September last year thanks to timely suggestions from students."

The students cheered. Lee Jong-hyun said, "I thought it would not work while I spent such a long time preparing for it, but I am proud that the road will change for the better for everyone." Professor Jeong Seok-jae, who was with the students, said, "At first I wanted to see how much the students could commit, but they completed this extensive proposal by delaying preparation for employment or enlistment, and I am proud of the students for making changes happen."

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, "We will reduce roadways and widen sidewalks to make pedestrian streets more comfortable and safer for residents."