Puneet Varma (Editor)

Tokyo Gaikan Expressway

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Existed:
  
1992 – present

Length
  
33.7 km

Constructed
  
1992

Tokyo Gaikan Expressway

From:
  
Tōmei Junction in Setagaya, Tokyo Tōmei Expressway

Major cities
  
Misato, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Wako, Sōka, Toda, Yashio

gorilla park under tokyo gaikan expressway


The Tokyo Gaikan Expressway (東京外環自動車道, Tōkyō Gaikan Jidōshadō) is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.

Contents

Map of Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway, Japan

Overview

The name Gaikan refers to the route's status as an outer ring road (beltway) for Tokyo. The expressway is also referred to simply as Gaikan for short. It is the second of three expressway ring routes in the greater Tokyo area: the innermost is the Central Circular Route, then the Gaikan, and the outermost is the Ken-Ō Expressway. The Inner Circular Route of the Shuto Expressway is apparently not considered a true ring road, as the alternate Japanese name of the Ken-Ō Expressway (English name is Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway) is 三環状道路, with the first character meaning 'three' not 'four.'

Currently only a section of the expressway on the northern side of the Tokyo area is open to traffic (Ōizumi Junction to Misato-minami Interchange). Most of this section is an elevated roadway built on the median of National Route 298 with curved windbreaks on both sides. Most of the roadway has two lanes in each direction (three lanes from Ōizumi Junction to Wakō-kita Interchange).

The eastern section is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in 2015, while the remaining western section is still in the planning stages. This section will pass though the densely populated suburbs of western Tokyo; it is expected that this section will consist mainly of tunnels constructed at least 40 m underground (deep underground).

The toll for a regular passenger car is currently 500 yen regardless of the distance travelled. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) is accepted.

List of interchanges and features

  • IC - interchange, JCT - junction, PA - parking area, BR - bridge, TB - toll gate
  • References

    Tokyo Gaikan Expressway Wikipedia