PURPOSES : This study is to evaluate environmental improvement effects of underground road project, as a case study of ‘Seobu’underground expressway project in Korea. METHODS : The environmental improvement effects of underground road construction were classified into tree sector in this study – air quality, noise, and thermal environment. To evaluate these effects, this study collected and divided environment dataset into before, during, and after ‘Seobu’underground expressway construction, and compared the change of values with entire city. In addition, the quantification method of environmental improvement effects was suggested based on the literature review. RESULTS : The result of this study indicates that there exist significant improvement effects of urban environment after the construction of ‘Seobu’underground expressway. Specifically, the concentration of particulate matters (PM10) and daytime/nighttime noise, and land surface temperature (LST) were improved along the expressway. In addition, the overall environmental benefit of ‘Seobu’ underground expressway was estimated to 1.15 billion won per year. CONCLUSIONS : To promote systematic and consistent underground road project, it is required to establish legislative system for evalauting and supporting urban improvement effects.

PURPOSES : This study aims to deduce the appropriate interval of cross passage for small vehicle exclusive roads within urban underground roads to ensure safety. METHODS : This study evaluated evacuation safety by fire and evacuation simulations. The simulation was applied to a passenger-caronly urban underground road, which was performed in the entry/exit section with a gradient of 6.0% and the mainline on level grade. The values of the variables for the simulations were determined to be close to the actual situation based on of the statistics and the results of previous studies. In the simulation scenario, the cross passage interval was visible. The evacuation safety was evaluated by comparing the “evacuation completion time” and the “smoke diffusion time.” Evacuation safety can be desirable when the evacuation completion time is shorter than the smoke diffusion time. RESULTS : According to the results of the simulation, the desirable cross passage interval is 180 m for the entry/exit sections with a 6% gradient in passenger-car-only tunnels. This criterion may be prolonged to an interval of 210 m and a width of 0.9 m for the construction reduction, based on the results of the statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS : According to the results of this study, the risk indices of the “Small Vehicles Road Tunnel Fire Safety Facility Installation and Management Guidelines” may be supplemented by the tunnel class and the gradient of the entry/exit section. In addition, the guideline may provide an improved interval of evacuation cross passage and the width of the cross passage door by the safety index.