Central Circular Route

The Central Circular Route (中央環状線, Chūō Kanjō-sen), signed as Route C2, is one of the routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the central part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The route is a circumferential highway running through the outer wards of Tokyo. The route is the middle of four ring expressways planned for the city; the other three being the C1 Inner Circular Route, the C3 Tokyo Gaikan Expressway, and the C4 Ken-Ō Expressway.

Central Circular Route
Route information
Maintained by Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited
Existed1982–present
Highway system
National highways of Japan
Expressways of Japan
Kasai JCT
Ōgi-ōhashi exit
Senju-shinbashi exit
Kohoku JCT

Route description

The Central Circular Route has a total length of 48.8 kilometers (30.3 mi).

It is a ring that lies approximately 8 km (5 mi) from the center of the city and goes through the wards of Edogawa, Katsushika, Adachi, Kita, Itabashi, Toshima, Shinjuku, Nakano, Shibuya, Meguro, and Shinagawa.

Yamate Tunnel

The Yamate Tunnel forms a key part of the Central Circular Route. A deep tunnel constructed beneath Yamate Dori, the first section over 11km in length, was opened to traffic on 22 December 2007. From 2010, the tunnel extended the Central Circular Route south from near Ikebukuro to Ohashi Junction connecting with Route 3. The last 9.4 kilometers (5.8 mi) through Meguro and Shinagawa was opened to traffic on 7 March 2015.[1] When this last section of the tunnel opened the Yamate Tunnel formed Japan's longest, and the world's second longest road tunnel.[2] During the tunnel's first week of operations, traffic volume on the Inner Circular Route was reduced by seven percent from the previous week, and congestion on expressways inside the Central Circular Route (an index measured by recording segments where average traffic speed is less than 40 km/h, and multiplying the affected distance by the affected time) was approximately halved from the previous week.[3]

The C2 begins and ends at the Bayshore Route, which serves to close the southeastern part of the loop.

History

The first section of the Central Circular Route was opened to traffic on 30 March 1982. Since then, the expressway was completed in phases. Construction work on underground sections of the route began in 1992. Given the extensive tunneling and engineering challenges involved, construction costs for the route were estimated to be 2 trillion yen.[4] The Central Circular Route was completed on 7 March 2015.[5]

Exit List

List of currently existing interchanges and exits ordered following the outer loop (clockwise):

Municipality Exit/interchange name Destinations Notes
Shinagawa-ku Ōi JCT Bayshore Route
Meguro-ku Ōhashi JCT Route 3 (Shuto Expressway) Outbound to Yōga and Tōmei Expressway. Inbound to Tanimachi from Inner Loop.
Shibuya-ku Tomigaya
C22
Shibuya-ku Hatsudai-Minami
C23
Shinjuku-ku Nishi-shinjuku JCT Route 4 Outbound to Takaido and Chūō Expressway. Inbound to Miyakezaka from Inner Loop.
Nakano-ku Nakano-chojabashi
C24		 Shinjuku Station, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Inner loop exit/outer loop entrance only
Shinjuku-ku Naka-ochiai JCT (Planned) Planned Nerima Route outbound to Nerima and Kan-etsu Expressway. Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Corporation plans to connect between C2 and Kan-estu Expressway through Nerima Route.
Toshima-ku Nishi-ikebukuro Entrance
C25		 Ikebukuro Station Inner loop entrance/outer loop exit only
Toshima-ku Nishi-ikebukuro Exit
C26		 Ikebukuro Station Inner loop exit.
Itabashi-ku Takamatsu Entrance
C28		 Yamate-dori street Outer loop entrance only. Inner loop exit has closed and moved to Nishi-ikebukuro in 2007, due to the extension of Yamate Tunnel.
Itabashi-ku Kumanocho JCT Route 5 inbound to Higashi-ikebukuro and Takebashi JCT from Inner loop.

Route C2 Outer Loop to Route 5 inbound is not connected.

 inbound only
Itabashi-ku Itabashi JCT Route 5 outbound to Ōmiya and Kan-etsu Expressway via Tokyo Gaikan Expressway. outbound only
Itabashi-ku Shin-itabashi
C29		 National Route 17, also known as Nakasendō avenue Outer loop exit only
Itabashi-ku Takinogawa
C31		 National Route 17, also known as Nakasendō avenue Inner loop entrance only
Kita-ku Ōji-minami
C33		 Ōji Station, Asukayama Park. Under construction: Inner loop entrance/outer loop exit.
This interchange is currently being reconstructed into a full interchange in combination with Oji-kita Rampway.
Kita-ku Ōji-kita
C34		 Ōji Station, Asukayama Park. Inner loop exit/outer loop entrance
Note: this interchange is currently being reconstructed into a full interchange in combination with Oji-minami Rampway.
Adachi-ku Kōhoku JCT Kawaguchi Route to Angyō and Tōhoku Expressway
Adachi-ku Ogiohashi
C35, C36
Adachi-ku Senju-shimbashi
C37, C38		 Kita-senju Station, National Route 4, also known as Nikkō Kaidō avenue
Katsushika-ku Kosuge JCT Route 6 outbound to Misato and Jōban Expressway
Katshushika-ku Kosuge
C40		 Inner loop exit/outer loop entrance
Katsushika-ku Horikiri JCT Route 6 inbound to Ginza and Hakozaki
Katsushika-ku Yotsugi
C41, C42		 National Route 6, also known as Mito Kaidō avenue
Katsushika-ku Hirai-ōhashi
C43		 Outer loop exit/inner loop entrance
Edogawa-ku Komatsugawa JCT (Planned) Crosses over Route 7 without connection.
Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Corporation plans to connect between C2 inner loop and route 7 inbound.
Edogawa-ku Funaboribashi
C44		 Inner loop exit/outer loop entrance
Edogawa-ku Seishinchō
C45		 Outer loop exit/inner loop entrance
This freeway stub will become part of Route 10
Edogawa-ku Kasai JCT Bayshore Route East to Urayasu and Higashi-Kantō Expressway
Bayshore Route West to Shin-kiba and Haneda Airport

References
  1. "Completion Date of Central Circular Route". Press Release. Metropolitan Expressway Co. Ltd. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  2. "Planning and Construction - Urban Long Tunnels, Yamate Tunnel". Shutoko. Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  3. 下田, 健太郎 (19 March 2015). "中央環状線内側の首都高各線で渋滞・混雑量が半減". Nihon Keizai Shimbun. 日経コンストラクション. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  4. "Tokyo's 47-km-long expressway loop fully opens". The Japan Times. Jiji. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  5. "首都高の歴史". Metropolitan Expressway (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 November 2019.

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