Tōhoku-Chūō Expressway | |
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Route information | |
Length | 230.6 km (143.3 mi) Main Route (planned) |
Existed | 1997[1]–present |
Component highways | ![]() ![]() |
Major junctions | |
South end | Sōma Junction![]() |
North end | Shimoinnai Interchange![]() |
Location | |
Country | Japan |
Major cities | Date, Fukushima, Yonezawa, Yamagata, Tendō, Higashine, Yuzawa |
Highway system | |
The Tōhoku-Chūō Expressway (東北中央自動車道, Tōhoku-Chūō Jidōsha-dō) (lit. Central Tōhoku Expressway) is a 2-laned national expressway in the Tōhoku regionofJapan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The expressway is numbered E13 under the MLIT's "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering."[2]
The expressway is incomplete in many areas, however it is planned to eventually be a continuous route spanning northern Fukushima, Yamagata, and southern Akita prefectures. As of July 2019, all gaps in the expressway are in the process of being eliminated, with all gaps in Fukushima set to be removed by March 2021.[3] North of the city of Shinjō, various expressway-standard roads (bypasses of National Route 13) make up the remaining distance to the city of Yokote in Akita Prefecture.[4]
The route of the expressway parallels the Ōu Main LineofEast Japan Railway Company for most of its length.
The speed limit is 70 km/h along the majority of the route, there are short 80 km/h sections between Yonezawa-kita and Yonezawa-Hachimanbara interchanges and Higashine and Higashine-kita interchanges.
The first section of the Tōhoku-Chūō Expressway to open was between Yonezawa-kita and Yonezawa-Hachimanbara interchanges on 21 November 1997. Since then the road has gradually been extended by adding short extensions.[5] The 8.8 km (5.5 mi) long Yonezawa-Nan'yō Road was incorporated into the Tōhoku-Chūō Expressway on 4 November 2017.[6] MLIT began construction on the last gap of the road on 30 March 2018, a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long section in Kaneyama, Yamagata.[4]
Prefecture | Location | km | mi | Exit | Name | Destinations | Notes |
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Fukushima | Sōma | 0.0 | 0.0 | 23 | Sōma | ![]() ![]() | Southern terminus |
6.0 | 3.7 | 1 | Sōma-Yamakami | ![]() | Northbound entrance, southbound exit | ||
16.5 | 10.3 | 2 | Sōma-Tamano | ![]() | Southbound entrance, northbound exit | ||
Date | 21.5 | 13.4 | 3 | Ryōzen-Iitate | ![]() | Southbound exit, northbound entrance | |
33.5 | 20.8 | 4 | Ryōzen | ![]() | Temporary at-grade intersection | ||
40.9 | 25.4 | 5 | Date-chūō | Scheduled to open in March 2021 | |||
43.7 | 27.2 | 6 | Date-Koori | ![]() | |||
Koori | 45.7 | 28.4 | 22-1 / TB | Koori | ![]() ![]() | Southern end of Tōhoku Expressway concurrency | |
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Fukushima | 49.5 50.0 | 30.8 31.1 | 21-1 / TB | Fukushima | ![]() | Northern end of Tōhoku Expressway concurrency | |
50.9 | 31.6 | 7 | Fukushima-Ōzasō | ![]() ![]() | |||
Fukushima/Yamagata border | 61.2 69.2 | 38.0 43.0 | Kuriko Tunnel; marking the border between Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures | ||||
Yamagata | Yonezawa | 77.5 | 48.2 | 8 | Yonezawa-Hachimanbara | ![]() | |
82.2 | 51.1 | 9 | Yonezawa-chūō | Yamagata Prefecture Route 1 (Yonezawa Takahata Route) | |||
86.5 | 53.7 | 10 / TB | Yonezawa-kita | ![]() ![]() | |||
Takahata | 95.3 | 59.2 | 11 | Yonezawa-Hachimanbara | ![]() ![]() | ||
Nan'yō | 102.4 | 63.6 | PA | Nan'yō | |||
Kaminoyama | 110.6 | 68.7 | 12 | Kaminoyama Onsen | ![]() ![]() | ||
119.7 | 74.4 | 13 | Yamagata-Kaminoyama | ![]() | |||
Yamagata | 127.0 | 78.9 | PA / SIC | Yamagata | Planned smart interchange[7] | ||
130.1 | 80.8 | 14 | Yamagata-chūō | Yamagata Prefecture Route 18 (Yamagata Asahi Route) | |||
135.2 | 84.0 | 15 | Yamagata | ![]() ![]() | |||
Tendō | 141.8 142.4 | 88.1 88.5 | 16 / TB | Tendō | Yamagata Prefecture Route 23 (Tendō Ōe Route) | ||
Higashine | 146.8 | 91.2 | 17 | Higashine | ![]() | ||
151.1 | 93.9 | 18 | Higashine-kita | Yamagata Prefecture Route 25 (Sagae Murayama Route) | |||
13.7 km gap in the expressway, connection is made primarily by ![]() | |||||||
Murayama | 164.8 | 102.4 | 21 | Ōishida-Murayama | Yamagata Prefecture Route 189 (Ōishida Tsuchiuda Route) | ||
Obanazawa | 170.1 | 105.7 | 22 | Obanazawa | ![]() | ||
174.1 | 108.2 | – | Nokurosawa | ![]() | Southbound exit, northbound entrance | ||
176.5 | 109.7 | – | Obanazawa-kita | ![]() | |||
180.2 | 112.0 | – | Kawarago | ![]() | Southbound exit, northbound entrance | ||
Funagata | 184.1 | 114.4 | – | Funagata | Yamagata Prefecture Route 56 (Shinjō-Funagata Route) | ||
Shinjō | 188.3 | 117.0 | 27 | Shinjō | ![]() | ||
193.0 | 119.9 | – | Shinjō-kita | Yamagata Prefecture Route 308 | At-grade intersection | ||
17.5 km gap in the expressway, connection is made primarily by ![]() | |||||||
Kaneyama | 210.5 | 130.8 | – | Kaneyama-kita | ![]() | At-grade intersection | |
215.4 | 133.8 | – | Sotosawa | ![]() | Southbound exit, northbound entrance | ||
Mamurogawa | 220.4 | 137.0 | – | Mamurogawa | ![]() | At-grade intersection | |
7.2 km gap in the expressway, connection is made by ![]() | |||||||
Akita | Yuzawa | 227.6 | 141.4 | – | Kamiinnai | ![]() | At-grade intersection |
230.6 | 143.3 | – | Shimoinnai | ![]() | At-grade intersection; northern terminus | ||
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1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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