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23-597: The Shibuya Route ( 渋谷線 , Shibuya-sen ) , signed as Route 3 of the Shuto Expressway system and AH1 as a part of that route of the Asian Highway Network , is one of the radial routes of the tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Tokyo area. The 11.7-kilometer-long (7.3 mi) elevated expressway was planned as a part of Tokyo's post-war redevelopment before the 1964 Summer Olympics . As

46-601: A few kilometers of expressway remaining) and ETC users have various time-of-day discounts. For large vehicles, the toll is doubled. There are 24 routes currently in operation: The Metropolitan Expressway was first built between Kyobashi Exit in Chūō, Tokyo and Shibaura Exit in Minato, Tokyo in 1962 for the purpose of increasing traffic flow efficiency in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, thus optimizing and improving

69-637: A radial route, it travels southwest from its eastern terminus at the Inner Circular Route , Tokyo's innermost ring road in Meguro , to the eastern terminus of the Tōmei Expressway in Setagaya . The Shibuya Route runs southwest from Tanimachi Junction where it meets the Inner Circular Route , Tokyo's innermost beltway, in Minato . In all, it runs for 11.9 kilometers (7.4 mi) through

92-559: The Bayshore Route , and 50 km/h on the Inner Circular Route . As of 2014, the cash toll for a standard-size car is ¥ 1300 regardless of distance traveled. Vehicles using the ETC toll-collection system pay a distance-based toll ranging from ¥300 to ¥1300 for ordinary vehicles (see toll price ) – in some cases substantially less than the previous fixed-rate toll. Lower cash rates exist for certain radial routes (where there are only

115-734: 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 . The Central Circular Route has a total length of 48.8 kilometers (30.3 mi). It is a ring that lies approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) from

138-512: 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 (24.9 mph), and multiplying the affected distance by the affected time) was approximately halved from the previous week. The C2 begins and ends at the Bayshore Route , which serves to close

161-417: The service areas available every 30 kilometers (19 miles) or so on inter-city expressways. 35°39′39″N 139°44′15″E  /  35.660814°N 139.737560°E  / 35.660814; 139.737560 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

184-601: The Shibuya Route and the newly opened section of the Central Circular Route to the south of Ōhashi Junction. The entire expressway is in Tokyo . The Shibuya Route figures in Haruki Murakami 's dystopian fiction novel 1Q84 . It is the setting of the novel's opening chapter. The elevated expressway has no shoulders, so turnouts at regular intervals provide places for drivers to park in case of an emergency. The turnouts are equipped with emergency stairways to

207-738: The Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line. Along this section, the expressway has a junction with the Central Circular Route at Ohashi Junction . The route then passes into Setagaya. In the ward the expressway has a junction with surface-level National Route 246. The Shibuya Route comes to an end at the Yōga entrance/exit where the expressway transitions to the intercity Tōmei Expressway managed by the Central Nippon Expressway Company . The Shibuya Route, along with

230-660: The Tōmei Expressway and the Inner Circular Route at its ends, is included in the cross-continental Asian Highway 1 that runs from Tokyo to Istanbul . The first plans were laid out for the Shibuya Route on 18 August 1959 during the preparations for the 1964 Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo. It was one of a network of eight expressway routes "designed to allow 60,000 vehicles travelling at 60kmper hour" planned to span Tokyo upon completion. The estimated cost for

253-546: The Tōmei Expressway was completed in December 1971. Further developments to the expressway have been made since its completion, in 2003 the Shibuya Route was included as one of several highways in Japan that make up its section of Asian Highway 1. In March 2010, the expressway was linked to the Central Circular Route upon the completion of Ōhashi Junction. On 7 March 2015, Ōhashi Junction was expanded to carry traffic to and from

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276-478: The Wangan is the setting for several entertainment franchises, such as the manga and arcade game Wangan Midnight , video games Shutokou Battle and Gran Turismo 5 , 6 , Sport and 7 (as the street circuit ) and the movie series Shuto Kousoku Trial . Numerous car enthusiast magazines and DVDs, like Best Motoring , also highlight races and activities on the Wangan. Inner Tokyo sections of

299-583: The beginning of the 1964 Olympics. The construction methods used on this elevated section of highway would later come under scrutiny after they were found to be the underlying cause of the collapse of the elevated Kobe Route in Kobe during the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995. It was next extended to Tanimachi Junction from Shibuya 4 chome in September 1967. The rest of the expressway between Shibuya and

322-451: The center of the city and goes through the wards of Edogawa , Katsushika , Adachi , Kita , Itabashi , Toshima , Shinjuku , Nakano , Shibuya , Meguro , and Shinagawa . The eastern half is an elevated structure and the western half is an underground one. The Yamate Tunnel is a deep tunnel constructed beneath Yamate Street, the first section over 11 km (6.8 mi) in length, was opened to traffic on 22 December 2007. From 2010,

345-645: The elevated expressway is the tunnel that carries the commuter line, so the tunnels are maintained jointly by the Metropolitan Expressway Company and the Tokyu Corporation. At Takagichō the expressway curves to the west, passing to the south of Aoyama Gakuin University . The Shibuya curves to the southwest once again as it passes central Shibuya. Continuing southwest into Meguro, the expressway begins its run directly above

368-517: The entire project as laid out in 1959 was 105.8 billion yen (US$ 293,888,888) (equivalent to $ 2.35 billion in 2023 dollars). Construction of the expressway route was initiated in 1962 in Shibuya 4 chome near Aoyama Gakuin University. The first section of the expressway to be opened to traffic was a section between Roppongi-dōri at Shibuya Interchange and Shibuya 4 chome in October 1964 in time for

391-524: The expressway prohibit motorcycle pillion passengers due to poor road geometry. The C2 route allows motorcycles with pillion passengers to travel through. The ban does not apply to motorcycles equipped with a sidecar . The segments with a pillion ban include the important C1 Inner Circular route and adjoining central Tokyo routes. There are 21 parking areas scattered throughout the Shuto Expressway system. In general these are much smaller than

414-552: The functionality of the traffic system. Since then, 280 kilometers of highway network has been built in the Tokyo metropolitan area; 30 kilometers more of highway are either constructed or planned, making the Metropolitan Expressway a vast network of urban expressways in the Tokyo region. Like other expressways in Japan including the Tōmei Expressway , the Shuto line has become a common street racing road. One of

437-566: The lines, the Bayshore Route (also known as the Wangan route), received worldwide notoriety during the 1990s as the home course for the Mid Night Club, one of the most notorious street racing clubs, who were known for their 300 km/h, sometimes 320 km/h exploits. These exploits and street racing culture on the Shuto Expressway have made it a well-known location for street racing and speed records. Due to this infamy,

460-411: The southeastern part of the loop. 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. The Central Circular Route

483-408: The streets below. In the novel, one of these emergency stairways serves as a gateway to an alternate reality, a fictionalized version of 1984 that the main character, Aomame, is transported to. Shuto Expressway Most routes are grade separated and have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that require caution to drive safely. The speed limit is 60 km/h on most routes, 80 km/h on

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506-491: 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. When this last section of the tunnel opened the Yamate Tunnel formed Japan's longest, and the world's second longest road tunnel. During the tunnel's first week of operations, traffic volume on

529-477: The wards of Shibuya , Meguro , and Setagaya . The expressway, an elevated highway , is paralleled by various surface-level streets along its entire length, primarily National Route 246 . Tokyu Corporation 's commuter line, the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line , travels directly beneath the expressway from Ikejiri-Ōhashi Station to Komazawa-daigaku Station . The foundation of the supports for this section of

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