Shuto Expressway

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is a network of expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the .

Contents

1 Routes

1.1 Circumferential routes
1.2 Radial routes
1.3 Kanagawa routes

2 History
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links

Routes

There are 24 routes currently in operation:

Circumferential routes

C1 Inner Circular Route
C2 Central Circular Route — loop is currently incomplete
Y Yaesu Route — via Tokyo Expressway

Radial routes

No. 1 Ueno Route (Edobashi JCT - Iriya)
No. 1 Haneda Route (Hamazaki-bashi JCT - Haneda)
No. 2 Meguro Route (Ichinohashi JCT - Togoshi)
No. 3 Shibuya Route (Tanimachi JCT - Yoga)
No. 4 Shinjuku Route (Miyakezaka JCT - Takaido)
No. 5 Ikebukuro Route (Takebashi JCT - Bijogi JCT)
No. 6 Mukojima Route (Edobashi JCT - Horikiri JCT)
No. 6 Misato Route (Kosuge JCT - Misato JCT)
No. 7 Komatsugawa Route (Ryogoku JCT - Yagochi)
No. 9 Fukagawa Route (Hakozaki JCT - Tatsumi JCT)
No. 10 Harumi Route (under construction)
No. 11 Daiba Route (Shibaura JCT - Ariake JCT)
S1 Kawaguchi Route (Kohoku JCT - Kawaguchi JCT)
S2 Saitama Shintoshin Route (Yono - Shintoshin-nishi)
S5 Omiya Route (Bijogi JCT - Yono)
B Bayshore Route (Kawasaki-ukishima JCT - Koya)

Kanagawa routes

K1 Yokohane Route (Haneda - Ishikawa-cho JCT)
K2 Mitsusawa Route (Kinko JCT - Mitsuzawa)
K3 Kariba Route (Honmoku JCT - Kariba)
K5 Daikoku Route (Namamugi JCT - Daikoku JCT)
K6 Kawasaki Route (Tonomachi - Kawasaki-ukishima JCT)
B Bayshore Route (Namiki - Kawasaki-ukishima JCT) (Yokohama Circular Route (under construction)')

History

The Metropolitan Expressway was first built between Kyobashi Exit in Chuo-ku, Tokyo and Shibaura Exit in Minato-ku, Tokyo in 1962 for the purpose of increasing traffic flow efficiency in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, thus optimizing and improving the functionality of the traffic system. Since then, 280 km of highway network has been built in the Tokyo metropolitan area; 32 km more of highway are either constructed or planned, making the Metropolitan Expressway a vast network of urban expressway in the Tokyo region.

Even though a legal amendment on 1 April 2005 generally allows a person aged at least 20 with a motorcycle driver license for at least 3 years to carry a passenger on a two-wheel motorcycle on a freeway, some segments of the Shuto Expressway still prohibits passengers on two-wheel motorcycles. See also the [map in Japanese].

Trivia

Like all others expressways in Japan, the Shuto line has become a common street racing road. One of the line Bayshore Route (or known as the Wangan by hashiriyas) received worldwide notoriety during the 90's was the home course for the MidNight Club, one of the most notorious street racing clubs, who were known for their 300 km/h, sometimes 320 km/h exploits.

Portions of the Manga and arcade game Wangan Midnight is based on the Shuto Expressway. C1 Loop is one of the tracks in the game you can drive on.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer, a game similar to Wangan Midnight, also uses the Shuto Expressway for the game.

It also appears on all six installments of the Shuto Kousoku Trial, one of the most controversial films to come out from Japan, made between 1988 and 1996 and is centralised about the expressway and exploits around it.

External links

[Official website]

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