The broad Sajik-ro in front of the altar confirms that this has long been an east–west passage. Its present width, intersections, and tunnel are not the result of one simple expansion of a Joseon road. Colonial street remodeling, post-liberation automobile planning, and tunneling through Inwangsan accumulated in stages.
A tunnel shortened distance on a traffic map and created new neighborhood boundaries
Vehicles that once had to go around the mountain could pass between Seodaemun and the center more quickly. Entrance roads and large junctions, however, increased the width residents had to cross on foot and weakened connections among smaller lanes. The same infrastructure produces different outcomes for drivers and pedestrians.
A broad road makes Sajikdan visible while isolating it
From a moving vehicle, the altar's trees and main gate become a brief roadside scene. A pedestrian must follow signals and designated crossings and may struggle to experience the altar and surrounding residential area as one historical landscape. Better vehicular access does not automatically mean a heritage site is better connected to its neighborhood.
Reading transport history should not romanticize earlier alleys
Narrow streets could encourage repeated encounters on foot, yet they also made firefighting, sanitation, deliveries, and movement difficult, especially for people with limited mobility. Recording the costs of automobile infrastructure need not turn the earlier environment into an ideal community. Ask whose journey became easier and whose became harder.