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 sign
Ken-Ō Expressway
C4 E66
圏央道
Map
Route information
Length300 km (190 mi)
Existed1996–present
HistoryOpened 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
CountryJapan
Major citiesChigasaki, Kanagawa
Atsugi, Kanagawa
Sagamihara, Kanagawa
Hachioji, Tokyo
Ome, Tokyo
Kawagoe, Saitama
Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Narita, Chiba
Ichihara, Chiba
Kisarazu, Chiba
Highway system
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

PrefectureLocationkmmiExitNameDestinationsNotes
Through to   National Route 1 (Fujisawa Bypass)
KanagawaFujisawa-Fujisawa  National Route 129East end of concurrency with Shin-Shōnan Bypass. Western terminus of the expressway as of January 2018.
Chigasaki00.024Chigasaki-chūōKanagawa Prefecture Routes 44/45
00.025Chigasaki  Shin-Shōnan Bypass west – Yokohama, OdawaraWest end of concurrency with Shin-Shōnan Bypass;
Samukawa1.91.226Samukawa-minamiKanagawa Prefecture Route 44The Ken-Ō Expressway turns from west to north, or south to east
5.13.227Samukawa-kitaKanagawa Prefecture Route 46
Ebina7.94.91Ebina-minami  Shin-Tōmei Expressway west – Atsugi-Minami
9.45.84-1Ebina  Tōmei Expressway – Nagoya, Tokyo
11.37.031EbinaKanagawa Prefecture Route 43
Atsugi16.210.132Ken-Ō-Atsugi  National Route 129
17.510.9PAAtsugi Parking Area
Sagamihara21.413.333Sagamihara-Aikawa  National Route 129/ Kanagawa Prefecture Route 52
30.318.834SagamiharaKanagawa Prefecture Route 510
TokyoHachiōji36.222.535Takaosan  National Route 20
38.223.76Hachiōji  Chūō Expressway – Kōfu, Shinjuku
42.626.541Hachiōji-nishiTokyo Metropolitan Route 61
Akiruno47.829.742Akiruno  National Route 411/ Tokyo Metropolitan Route 169
Hinode49.830.943HinodeTokyo Metropolitan Route 184
Ōme58.536.444ŌmeTokyo Metropolitan Route 44
SaitamaIruma63.339.345Iruma  National Route 16
Sayama67.441.9PASayama Parking Area
69.343.146Sayama HidakaSaitama Prefecture Route 397
Tsurugashima76.147.347Ken-Ō-Tsurugashima  National Route 407
78.348.750Tsurugashima  Kan-etsu Expressway – Niigata, Nerima
Sakado83.551.951SakadoSaitama Prefecture Route 269
Kawajima865352Kawajima  National Route 254
Okegawa91.757.060Okegawa-Kitamoto  National Route 17
96.459.961Okegawa-Kano  National Route 17/ Saitama Prefecture Route 12
Kuki99.261.6PAShobu PA
Shiraoka102.563.762Shiraoka-Shobu  National Route 122
Kuki105.865.770Kuki-Shiraoka  Tōhoku Expressway – Utsunomiya, Tokyo
Satte114.371.071SatteSaitama Prefecture Route 383
IbarakiGoka118.573.672Goka  National Route 4
Sakai125.477.973Sakai-Koga  National Route 354The Ken-Ō Expressway turns from travelling north to south and south to north
Bandō134.583.674BandōIbaraki Prefecture Route 20
PABandō Parking Area
Jōsō143.489.175Jōsō  National Route 294
Tsukuba15093-Tsukuba SICIbaraki Prefecture Route 45Completion is set for 2021.[8]
153.995.676Tsukuba-chūōIbaraki Prefecture Route 19
158.298.380Tsukuba  Jōban Expressway – Iwaki, Tokyo
159.799.281Tsukuba-Ushiku  National Route 6
Ami165.8103.082Ushiku-AmiIbaraki Prefecture Route 48
171.7106.783Ami-higashiIbaraki Prefecture Route 34
Inashiki175.7109.2PAEdosaki Parking Area
177.7110.484InashikiIbaraki Prefecture Route 49
183.7114.185Inashiki-higashiIbaraki Prefecture Route 103
ChibaKōzaki188.3117.086Kōzaki  National Route 356
Narita192.1119.487ShimofusaChiba Prefecture Route 63
19812390Taiei    Higashi-Kantō Expressway – Narita International Airport, Kashima, Tokyo
18 km gap in the expressway.
Sanmu216.1134.393Matsuo-Yokoshiba  Choshu Renraku Road / Chiba Prefecture Route 62
223.5138.994Sanbu-NarutōChiba Prefecture Route 62
Tōgane232.2144.3100Tōgane  Chiba-Tōgane Road west – Chiba
232.2144.3101Tōgane  National Route 126
Ōamishirasato239.7148.9101-1Ōamishirasato SIC
Mobara243.1151.1102Mobara-kitaChiba Prefecture Route 21/ Chiba Sotobō Toll Road
248.6154.5-Mobara-Nagara SICOpened in 2020[9]
Chōnan253.8157.7103Mobara-Chōnan  National Route 409
Ichihara262.6163.2104Ichihara-Tsurumai  National Route 297
264.4164.3PATakatakiko Parking Are
Kisarazu275.1170.9105Kisarazu-higashi  National Route 410 / Chiba Prefecture Route 24 – Chiba, Ichihara, Kamogawa, Kururi
Sodegaura-KazusaChiba Prefecture Route 33
Kisarazu282.1175.3110Kisarazu  Tateyama Expressway – Tateyama, Chiba
Through to   Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References

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  1. ^ "東京都建設局|Url変更につき転送します。". Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2014-11-23.
  2. ^ "Japan's Expressway Numbering System". www.mlit.go.jp.
  3. ^ "Information on sections to be opened". 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 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. ^ "Kyoutei" (PDF). jehdra.go.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 June 2023.