Work on the new highways and railroads linking venues for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games to major cities in South Korea has reached its final stages ©Getty Images

Work on the new highways and railroads linking venues for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games to major cities in South Korea has reached its final stages.

New roads due to be opened this year, include a 22 kilometre expressway between Seongnam and Anyang.

Yonhap reports that this will help reduce the overall travel time from Incheon International Airport to the main Olympic venues by 40 minutes to approximately one hour and 35 minutes.

A 72km extension of the expressway between Seoul and Yangyang County in Gangwon Province is also scheduled to open by the end of this year.

According to South Korea's transportation ministry, this will reduce the travelling time between the two locations to 90 minutes from the current two hours and 10 minutes.

Additionally, authorities have said they are working on renovating road surfaces and other traffic facilities.

A total of 16 roads are being either expanded or constructed with nine of them 90 per cent complete and the others 75 per cent complete.

Organisers have said these roads will be completed by November, according to Yonhap.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games are due to begin in February ©Getty Images
The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games are due to begin in February ©Getty Images

In May, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) attending the European Olympic Committees seminar in Macedonia’s capital Skopje expressed their disapproval towards transport plans for Pyeongchang 2018.

Transport concerns primarily surround the high-speed railway connection between Incheon International Airport, Seoul and the Pyeongchang region itself.

Athletes are due to travel on the high-speed railway once arriving in South Korea, while their luggage and equipment will follow in logistics trucks.

Accredited personnel such as media and other officials are also expected to use the connection - which should reduce four-hour journey times by half - as well as spectators.

This has led to concerns that more than the expected capacity of 20,000 people per day could attempt to make the journey.

With the last trains due to leave Games venues at 11pm, there are also worries over how spectators watching sport finishing later in the evening will be able to return to Seoul.

NOCs have asked for the option of having buses, as well as the high-speed train, to travel to accommodation.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics are due to take place from February 9 to 25 and will be followed by the Winter Paralympics from March 8 to 18.