Higashi-Meihan Expressway

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Higashi-Meihan Expressway (東名阪自動車道)
Length:	85.8 km[1][2]
Formed:	1970[3]
From:	Nagoya-minami Junction in Nagoya Isewangan Expressway Nagoya Expressway Ōdaka Route
To:	Ise-Seki Interchange in Kameyama, Mie Ise Expressway
Major cities:	Kiyosu, Tsushima, Aisai, Yatomi, Kuwana, Yokkaichi, Suzuka

The Higashi-Meihan Expressway (東名阪自動車道, Higashimeihan Jidōshadō^?) is a 4-laned national expressway in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company.

[edit] Naming

Meihan is a kanji acronym of two characters. The first character represents Nagoya (名古屋) and the second character represents Osaka (大阪). Higashi (東) means east; together with the Meihan Highway and Nishi-Meihan Expressway, it forms a corridor linking the greater Nagoya and Osaka areas.

Officially, the route is designated as the Kinki Expressway Nagoya Osaka Route,^[4] however this designation does not appear on any signage. In some areas, signs on the route are written in Japanese as 東名阪道 or ひがし名阪道; this is to prevent confusion with the Tōmei Expressway which looks similar when written in Japanese.

[edit] Overview

The first section of what would later become the Higashi-Meihan Expressway opened to traffic in 1970.^[3] The section from Nagoya-minami Junction to Takabari Junction is currently under construction; it is expected to open in 2010.^[5] There are also plans to expand the section from Yokkaichi Junction to Kameyama Junction to 6 lanes.^[5]

The expressway is effectively divided into two parts. From Nagoya-minami Junction to Nagoya-nishi Junction, the expressway forms a semi-circle around central Nagoya, built as an elevated expressway on the median of National Route 302. This section is built to an urban expressway standard with no parking areas or service areas and a lower speed limit than other national expressways (60 km/h). Tolls are charged at a flat rate (currently 500 yen for a regular passenger car).^[6] The remaining section from Nagoya-nishi Junction to Ise-Seki Interchange is built to the same standards as most other national expressways, with tolls being charged according to distance travelled.

The section between Hikiyama Interchange and Ōmori Interchange consists of tunnels that run underneath waterways; vehicles carrying dangerous goods are forbidden from travelling through these tunnels and must use alternate routes.

[edit] List of interchanges and features

• IC - interchange, SIC - smart interchange, JCT - junction, PA - parking area, SA - service area, TB - toll gate, TN - tunnel

[edit] Main Route

No.	Name	Connections	Dist. from Nagoya IC	Bus Stop	Notes	Location
5	Nagoya-minami JCT	Isewangan Expressway Nagoya Expressway Ōdaka Route			Opens in 2010	Nagoya	Aichi
<1>	Arimatsu IC	National Route 302			Opens in 2010	Ōbu
<2>	Narumi IC	National Route 302			Opens in 2010	Nagoya
<3>	Ueta IC	National Route 153 (Toyota-nishi Bypass)			Opens in 2010
4	Takabari JCT	Nagoya Expressway Higashiyama Route
<5>	Kamiyashiro-minami IC	National Route 302			Opens in 2010
5-1	Kamiyashiro JCT	Higashi-Meihan Connecting Road	1.4
6	Kamiyashiro IC	National Route 302	1.9		Takabari-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only
7	Hikiyama IC	National Route 302	3.1		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
TN	Meitō Tunnel				Dangerous goods forbidden
TN	Moriyama Tunnel				Dangerous goods forbidden
8	Ōmori IC	National Route 302	5.3		Kamiyashiro-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only
9	Obata IC	National Route 302	6.3		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
10	Matsukawado IC	National Route 302	8.6		Kamiyashiro-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only	Kasugai
11	Kachigawa IC	Pref. Route 508 (Utsutsu Kachigawa Route) National Route 302	10.5
12	Kusunoki IC	National Route 302	13.1		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only	Nagoya
13	Kusunoki JCT	Nagoya Expressway Kusunoki Route Nagoya Expressway Komaki Route	14.0
14	Yamada-higashi IC	National Route 302	15.1		Exits only
15	Yamada-nishi IC	National Route 302	16.4		Entrances only
16	Hirata IC	National Route 302	18.0		Kamiyashiro-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only
17	Kiyosu-higashi IC	National Route 22 (Meigi Bypass) National Route 302	18.6		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
						Kiyosu
17-1	Kiyosu JCT	Nagoya Expressway Kiyosu Route Nagoya Expressway Ichinomiya Route	20.5
17	Kiyosu-higashi IC	National Route 302	20.9		Kamiyashiro-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only
18	Kiyosu-nishi IC	National Route 302	21.7		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
19	Jimokuji-kita IC	National Route 302	23.3		Kamiyashiro-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only	Jimokuji
20	Jimokuji-minami IC	National Route 302	24.6		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
21	Ōharu-kita IC	National Route 302	25.6		Kamiyashiro-bound exit, Yokkaichi-bound entrance only	Ōharu
22	Ōharu-minami IC	National Route 302	27.2		Yokkaichi-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
TB	Ōharu Toll Plaza				Kamiyashiro-bound only
23	Nagoya-nishi JCT	National Route 302 (Planned) Nagoya Expressway Manba Route	28.0			Nagoya
24	Nagoya-nishi IC	Pref. Route 40 (Nagoya Kanie Yatomi Route)	28.8
TB	Nagoya-nishi Toll Gate
						Shippō
25	Kanie IC	Pref. Route 65 (Ichinomiya Kanie Route)	31.6			Kanie
26	Yatomi IC	National Route 155 (Yatomi Bypass)	37.0			Yatomi
27	Nagashima IC	Pref. Route 7 (Suigō Kōen Route) Pref. Route 117 (Tado Nagashima Route) Pref. Route 168 (Tatsuta Nagashima Inter Route)	40.7			Kuwana	Mie
28	Kuwana-higashi IC	National Route 258	44.0
PA	Ōyamada PA		45.0
29	Kuwana IC	Pref. Route 63 (Hoshigawa Nishibessho Route)	47.9
29-1	Yokkaichi JCT	Isewangan Expressway	51.3			Yokkaichi
BS	Chiyoda Bus Stop			X	Closed
30	Yokkaichi-higashi IC	Pref. Route 64 (Kamiebi Mochibuku Route)	53.8
SA	Gozaisho SA		55.2
BS	Agata Bus Stop			X	Closed
31	Yokkaichi IC	National Route 477	60.2
BS	Nishiyama Bus Stop			X	Closed
32	Suzuka IC	Pref. Route 27 (Kanbe Nagasawa Route)	69.8			Suzuka
TB	Suzuka Toll Gate				Closed March 13, 2005
32-1	Kameyama JCT	Shinmeishin Expressway	74.9			Kameyama
BS	Sumiyama Bus Stop			X	Closed
PA	Kameyama PA/ SIC		80.1		Highway Oasis
33	Kameyama IC	National Route 1 (Seki Bypass) Meihan Highway	81.2		Ise-Seki-bound exit, Nagoya-bound entrance only
34	Ise-Seki IC	Ise Expressway	83.1		Ise Expwy Seki JCT ←→ Higashi-Meihan: No Access

[edit] Higashi-Meihan Connecting Road

No.	Name	Connections	Dist. from Nagoya IC	Notes
(21)	Nagoya IC	Tōmei Expressway	0.0	Entrance/exit for local roads only accessible from Tōmei Expressway
1	Hongō IC	Pref. Route 60 (Nagoya Nagakute Route)	0.5	Nagoya IC-bound exit, Kamiyashiro-bound entrance only
5-1	Kamiyashiro JCT	Main Route	1.4

[edit] References

1. ^ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Road Timetable. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
2. ^ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Road Timetable. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
3. ^ ^{a b} Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. History of the Expressway Network in the Greater Nagoya Area. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
4. ^ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. High Standard Trunk Road Map (pdf). Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
5. ^ ^{a b} NEXCO-Central Business Outline (pdf). Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
6. ^ E-NEXCO Drive Plaza Route Search. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.

[edit] External links

• Central Nippon Expressway Company

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