Ken-Ō Expressway

The Ken-O Expressway (圏央道, Ken-Ō Dō), or Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway (首都圏中央連絡自動車道, Shuto-ken Chūō Renraku Jidōsha-dō),^[1] is a partially completed ticket system toll expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by the Central Nippon Expressway Company and East Nippon Expressway Company. In conjunction with the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line and the Bayshore Route of the Shuto Expressway, the expressway will form a full outer ring road of Tokyo. It is signed as National Route 468 as well as C4 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering."^[2]

Ken-Ō Expressway
圏央道
Route information
Length	300 km (190 mi)
Existed	1996–present
History	Opened in stages since 1996
Component highways	National Route 1 / National Route 126 / National Route 468
Major junctions
Loop around Tokyo
West end	Shin-Shōnan Bypass at Chigasaki Junction
East end	Tateyama Expressway at Kisarazu Junction
Location
Country	Japan
Major cities	Chigasaki, Kanagawa Atsugi, Kanagawa Sagamihara, Kanagawa Hachioji, Tokyo Ome, Tokyo Kawagoe, Saitama Tsukuba, Ibaraki Narita, Chiba Ichihara, Chiba Kisarazu, Chiba
Highway system
National highways of Japan Expressways of Japan
← National Route 467 → National Route 469

The section owned by the Central Nippon Expressway Company runs from the east end of the Shin-Shōnan Bypass west along the bypass and north to Akiruno Interchange. The rest of the route is owned by the East Nippon Expressway Company.

Route description

 

The Ken-Ō and Chūō Expressways meet at Hachiōji Junction.

The expressway begins at the west end of the Fujisawa Bypass (part of Route 1) in Fujisawa, Kanagawa. From here the expressway is concurrent with the Shin-Shōnan Bypass, which it splits from as that road turns toward the south at Chigasaki.

The Ken-O Expressway then heads north, crossing the Tōmei Expressway and Chūō Expressway. Continuing north, then east. There are junctions with the Kan-Etsu Expressway, Tōhoku Expressway, and Jōban Expressway. It then turns southeast, where it meets the Higashi-Kantō Expressway east of Narita Airport, there is gap in the expressway here that is planned to be closed. The expressway resumes at Choshu Renraku Road in Tōgane. It crosses the present east end of the Chiba-Tōgane Road, a two-lane expressway. The Ken-O Expressway continues south, looping west to end at the junction of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line and Tateyama Expressway.

History

The Ken-Ō Expressway was linked with the Shin-Tōmei Expressway on 28 January 2018.^[3]

The smart interchange in Ōamishirasato was opened on 24 March 2019.^[4]

Future

Portions of the existing Yokohama-Yokosuka Expressway, Shin-Shōnan Bypass and Chiba-Tōgane Road and the planned Yokohama Ring Expressway will be incorporated into the expressway.^[5] In Chiba Prefecture, land acquisition is under way for an 18 kilometres (11 mi) gap in the expressway to be filled. The new segment is expected to reach completion by 2024.^[6]

Economic significance

Along with Japan National Route 16, the Ken-Ō Expressway will connect the entire length of the Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area (TAMA) — an inland industrial region covering an area of 3000 km², in 74 municipalities, and home to over 10 million people of whom 4 million work in the TAMA firms. In 1998 goods shipped from TAMA had twice the shipment value of the Silicon Valley.^[7]

Junction list

Parking areas are appended with PA and smart interchanges are appended with SIC. There are currently no service areas.

Prefecture	Location	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Through to   National Route 1 (Fujisawa Bypass)
Kanagawa	Fujisawa			-	Fujisawa	National Route 129	East end of concurrency with Shin-Shōnan Bypass. Western terminus of the expressway as of January 2018.
	Chigasaki	0	0.0	24	Chigasaki-chūō	Kanagawa Prefecture Routes 44/45
		0	0.0	25	Chigasaki	Shin-Shōnan Bypass west – Yokohama, Odawara	West end of concurrency with Shin-Shōnan Bypass;
	Samukawa	1.9	1.2	26	Samukawa-minami	Kanagawa Prefecture Route 44	The Ken-Ō Expressway turns from west to north, or south to east
		5.1	3.2	27	Samukawa-kita	Kanagawa Prefecture Route 46
	Ebina	7.9	4.9	1	Ebina-minami	Shin-Tōmei Expressway west – Atsugi-Minami
		9.4	5.8	4-1	Ebina	Tōmei Expressway – Nagoya, Tokyo
		11.3	7.0	31	Ebina	Kanagawa Prefecture Route 43
	Atsugi	16.2	10.1	32	Ken-Ō-Atsugi	National Route 129
		17.5	10.9	PA	Atsugi Parking Area
	Sagamihara	21.4	13.3	33	Sagamihara-Aikawa	National Route 129/ Kanagawa Prefecture Route 52
		30.3	18.8	34	Sagamihara	Kanagawa Prefecture Route 510
Tokyo	Hachiōji	36.2	22.5	35	Takaosan	National Route 20
		38.2	23.7	6	Hachiōji	Chūō Expressway – Kōfu, Shinjuku
		42.6	26.5	41	Hachiōji-nishi	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 61
	Akiruno	47.8	29.7	42	Akiruno	National Route 411/ Tokyo Metropolitan Route 169
	Hinode	49.8	30.9	43	Hinode	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 184
	Ōme	58.5	36.4	44	Ōme	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 44
Saitama	Iruma	63.3	39.3	45	Iruma	National Route 16
	Sayama	67.4	41.9	PA	Sayama Parking Area
		69.3	43.1	46	Sayama Hidaka	Saitama Prefecture Route 397
	Tsurugashima	76.1	47.3	47	Ken-Ō-Tsurugashima	National Route 407
		78.3	48.7	50	Tsurugashima	Kan-etsu Expressway – Niigata, Nerima
	Sakado	83.5	51.9	51	Sakado	Saitama Prefecture Route 269
	Kawajima	86	53	52	Kawajima	National Route 254
	Okegawa	91.7	57.0	60	Okegawa-Kitamoto	National Route 17
		96.4	59.9	61	Okegawa-Kano	National Route 17/ Saitama Prefecture Route 12
	Kuki	99.2	61.6	PA	Shobu PA
	Shiraoka	102.5	63.7	62	Shiraoka-Shobu	National Route 122
	Kuki	105.8	65.7	70	Kuki-Shiraoka	Tōhoku Expressway – Utsunomiya, Tokyo
	Satte	114.3	71.0	71	Satte	Saitama Prefecture Route 383
Ibaraki	Goka	118.5	73.6	72	Goka	National Route 4
	Sakai	125.4	77.9	73	Sakai-Koga	National Route 354	The Ken-Ō Expressway turns from travelling north to south and south to north
	Bandō	134.5	83.6	74	Bandō	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 20
				PA	Bandō Parking Area
	Jōsō	143.4	89.1	75	Jōsō	National Route 294
	Tsukuba	150	93	-	Tsukuba SIC	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 45	Completion is set for 2021.^[8]
		153.9	95.6	76	Tsukuba-chūō	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 19
		158.2	98.3	80	Tsukuba	Jōban Expressway – Iwaki, Tokyo
		159.7	99.2	81	Tsukuba-Ushiku	National Route 6
	Ami	165.8	103.0	82	Ushiku-Ami	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 48
		171.7	106.7	83	Ami-higashi	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 34
	Inashiki	175.7	109.2	PA	Edosaki Parking Area
		177.7	110.4	84	Inashiki	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 49
		183.7	114.1	85	Inashiki-higashi	Ibaraki Prefecture Route 103
Chiba	Kōzaki	188.3	117.0	86	Kōzaki	National Route 356
	Narita	192.1	119.4	87	Shimofusa	Chiba Prefecture Route 63
		198	123	90	Taiei	Higashi-Kantō Expressway – Narita International Airport, Kashima, Tokyo
		18 km gap in the expressway.
	Sanmu	216.1	134.3	93	Matsuo-Yokoshiba	Choshu Renraku Road / Chiba Prefecture Route 62
		223.5	138.9	94	Sanbu-Narutō	Chiba Prefecture Route 62
	Tōgane	232.2	144.3	100	Tōgane	Chiba-Tōgane Road west – Chiba
		232.2	144.3	101	Tōgane	National Route 126
	Ōamishirasato	239.7	148.9	101-1	Ōamishirasato SIC
	Mobara	243.1	151.1	102	Mobara-kita	Chiba Prefecture Route 21/ Chiba Sotobō Toll Road
		248.6	154.5	-	Mobara-Nagara SIC		To be opened in 2020.^[9]
	Chōnan	253.8	157.7	103	Mobara-Chōnan	National Route 409
	Ichihara	262.6	163.2	104	Ichihara-Tsurumai	National Route 297
		264.4	164.3	PA	Takatakiko Parking Are
	Kisarazu	275.1	170.9	105	Kisarazu-higashi	National Route 410 / Chiba Prefecture Route 24 – Chiba, Ichihara, Kamogawa, Kururi
	Sodegaura			-	Kazusa	Chiba Prefecture Route 33
	Kisarazu	282.1	175.3	110	Kisarazu	Tateyama Expressway – Tateyama, Chiba
Through to   Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access       Unopened

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ken-O Expressway.

• http://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/honkyoku/road/3kanjo/kenoudo/index.htm
• illustrations of new and planned segments, June 2015 (Japanese) http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/pressroom/press_release/kanto/h27/0424/pdfs/pdf.pdf

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2014-11-23.
2. "Japan's Expressway Numbering System". www.mlit.go.jp.
3. . Archived from the original on 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
4. "首都圏中央連絡自動車道『大網白里スマートインターチェンジ』 が平成３１年３月２４日（日）１５時に開通します" (PDF) (in Japanese). 12 February 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
5. "圏央道神崎Ic～大栄Jct間が6月7日に開通します | Nexco東日本" (PDF).
6. "圏央道、2024年度に全線開通へ 千葉県内の整備加速". 30 November 2017.
7. Chandra, Pankaj. "Networks of Small Producers for Technological Innovations: Some Models" (PDF). IIM Ahmedabad Working Paper No. 2006-03-02, March 2006. IIM Ahmedabad. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
8. "つくばにスマートIC 圏央道つくば中央-常総間". www.ibarakinews.jp.
9. http://www.jehdra.go.jp/pdf/kyoutei/k1001_1.pdf#page=520^{[bare URL PDF]}