Akita Expressway

Infobox_road
highway_name = Akita Expressway (秋田自動車道)
marker_



length = 143.6 km (Main Route)
9.5 km (Akita Sotokanjō Expressway)cite web| url= http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/more_expressway/data/ | title= E-NEXCO Expressway Data | accessdate= 2008-04-13 ]
33.8 km (Kotooka Noshiro Road)
established = 1991 [cite web| url= http://www.city.akita.akita.jp/city/pl/mn/statistics/gaikyo/H12/9zrekisi.htm | title= History of Akita City | accessdate= 2008-04-13 ]
first_open =
starting_terminus = Kitakami Junction in Kitakami, Iwate

cities = Yokote, Daisen, Akita
ending_terminus = Futatsui-Shirakami Interchange in Noshiro, Akita

Akita Prefectural Route 317The nihongo|Akita Expressway|秋田自動車道|Akita Jidōsha-dō is a national expressway in the Tōhoku region of Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.

Overview

The expressway begins at a junction with the Tōhoku Expressway in Iwate Prefecture and crosses into Akita Prefecture to the west. The route intersects the Yuzawa-Yokote Road in Yokote and the Nihonkai-Tōhoku Expressway in the Akita city area. From this junction, the route follows a northerly course parallel to the Japan Sea to its terminus with National Route 7 in Noshiro.

The entire route is signed as the Akita Expressway for consistency purposes, however two separate sections of the route are officially designated as the Akita Sotokanjō Expressway and Kotooka Noshiro Road (both bypasses of National Route 7). These sections are not classified as national expressways but rather as nihongo|national highways for motor vehicles only with national expressway concurrency|高速自動車国道に並行する一般国道自動車専用道路|Kōsoku Jidōsha Kokudō ni Heikōsuru Ippan Kokudō Jidōsha Senyō Dōro.

The route of the expressway is planned to eventually continue past the current terminus at Futatsui-Shirakami Interchange as the Nihonkai Engan Tōhoku Expressway towards a junction with the Tōhoku Expressway near Aomori Prefecture,cite web| url= http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/ir/ir-yosan/h20/s07.pdf | title= High Standard Trunk Road Map |author= Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport | accessdate= 2008-04-13 | format=pdf] [cite web| url= http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/open_schedule/tohoku/ | title= E-NEXCO Planned Routes | accessdate= 2008-04-14 ] however it is unknown if the naming of the sections that are currently open will change upon completion of that expressway.

The section between Hachiryū Interchange and Futatsui-Shirakami Interchange is toll-free;cite web| url= http://www.hokuu.co.jp/2007.kiji8/2007.8gatu11kara15niti.html | title= Hokuu Shinhō, August 12, 2007 | accessdate= 2008-04-13 ] all other sections assess tolls based on distance travelled in the same manner as most other national expressways.

Official designations

*Kitakami JCT - Akita-kita IC : Tōhoku Ōdan Expressway Kamaishi Akita Route ]
*Akita-kita IC - Shōwa-Ogahantō IC : Akita Sotokanjō Expressway [cite web| url= http://www.driveplaza.com/dp/SearchTop#search_map | title= E-NEXCO Drive Plaza Route Search | accessdate= 2008-04-13 ]
*Shōwa-Ogahantō IC - Kotooka-Moritake IC : Nihonkai Tōhoku Engan Expressway ]
*Kotooka-Moritake IC - Futatsui-Shirakami IC : Kotooka Noshiro Road

List of interchanges and features

* IC - interchange, JCT - junction, SA - service area, PA - parking area, BS - bus stop, TN - tunnel, BR - bridge, TB - toll gate

References

External links

*ja icon [http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/ East Nippon Expressway Company]