Kobe Route

The Kobe Route (神戸線, Kobe-sen), signed as Route 3, is one of the routes of the Hanshin Expressway system serving the Keihanshin area in Kansai, Japan. It is an intercity route that travels in an east to west direction from Osaka to Kobe, with a total length of 39.4 kilometers (24.5 mi).

Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route
阪神高速3号神戸線
The Kobe Route highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Hanshin Expressway Company, Limited
Length39.4 km (24.5 mi)
Existed1966–present
Major junctions
East endAwaza Junction in Nishi-ku, Osaka
Ōsakakō Route
West end Daini-Shinmei Road
Location
CountryJapan
Highway system

Route description

The Kobe Route begins at Awaza Junction in Nishi-ku, Osaka, where it meets the Ōsakakō Route. From there it travels west from central Osaka. It meets the planned outer loop expressway of the city, the partially completed Yodogawa-Sagan Route, on the southern bank of the Yodo River.[1] After this, the expressway crosses into the city of Amagasaki in eastern Hyōgo Prefecture. Upon entering Amagasaki, the expressway meets National Route 43, which then travels directly alongside the expressway all the way to Kobe.[2]

Along the way to Kobe the expressway has a junction with the Meishin Expressway, the western terminus of that expressway, though direct access to the Meishin Expressway is limited with access being completed via National Route 43.[3] In Nada-ku, Kobe, National Route 43 diverges from the Kobe Route and ends at an intersection with National Route 2. National Route 2 then takes its place as the parallel road for the Kobe Route through central Kobe.[3]

In central Kobe, the expressway closely follows the coastline of the Port of Kobe. Along this stretch of the route, a junction connects the expressway to the Shin-Kobe Tunnel.[3] Continuing west, the expressway leaves the coastline and central Kobe. It then curves north in Suma-ku, Kobe, leaving National Route 2. The expressway meets its western terminus in the ward, but continues west as the Daini-Shinmei Road.[4]

History
A collapsed section of the Kobe Route after the Great Hanshin earthquake.

The first section of the Kobe Route was opened in 1966. The elevated section of the expressway in central Kobe was built in 1969 during the preparation for the Expo '70 world's fair held in nearby Suita.[5]

When 18 spans of this section collapsed in 1995 during the Great Hanshin earthquake, the stricken expressway became a focal point of the disaster for the media.[6][7] The structure could not resist the forces of the unprecedented earthquake due to various design inadequacies, including too shallow a foundation for the support pillars and a lack of sufficient either external or internal transverse reinforcement for the pillars. The collapse of the structure did not result in any casualties. The elevated expressway was rebuilt by the end of 1996 and the surviving pillars were retrofitted with steel sheathing to prevent the same type of failure from recurring.[8][9]

On 18 December 2010, the Kobe Route was linked to the Kobe-Yamate Route after Minatogawa Junction was opened to traffic.[10] On 31 October 2016, Amagasaki-Shūya Toll Gate was removed,[11] it was replaced with a parking area that opened on 19 March 2019.[12]

List of interchanges
PrefectureLocationkm[2]miExitNameDestinationsNotes
OsakaOsaka0.00.0–Awaza Ōsakakō Route – to Loop RouteEastern terminus
0.30.193-01NishinagahoriOsaka Prefecture Route 29 (Shin-Naniwasuji)Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
0.90.563-02Nakanoshima-nishiNakanoshima-dōri
Osaka Prefecture Route 29 – to Loop Route		Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
3.11.93-03EbieOsaka-Shidōkujō-Umeda RouteEastbound exit, westbound entrance
3.22.0–Ebie Yodogawa-Sagan Route – to Kansai Airport, Bayshore RouteEastbound exit, westbound entrance
4.22.63-04HimejimaUnnamed city streetsEastbound entrance, westbound exit
5.13.23-05ŌwadaYodogawa-dōriEastbound exit, westbound entrance
HyōgoAmagasaki7.04.33-06Amagasaki-higashiUnnamed city streetsEastbound exit only
8.35.2PAAmagasakiParking area for westbound traffic; formerly a toll gate
10.76.63-07Amagasaki-nishiUnnamed city streetsEastbound exit, westbound entrance
Nishinomiya11.97.43-08MukogawaE1 National Route 43 – to Meishin Expressway, Koshien StadiumEastbound entrance, westbound exit; westbound traffic for the Meishin Expressway needs to exit here.
14.59.03-09Nishinomiya Meishin Expressway east – to Osaka AirportEastbound exit, westbound entrance; western terminus of E1
16.810.43-10Nishinomiya National Route 43 – Koshien StadiumEastbound exit, westbound entrance
Ashiya17.410.83-11Ashiya National Route 43Eastbound entrance, westbound exit
17.811.1Ashiya Toll BoothWestbound traffic only
Kobe21.413.33-12Fukae National Route 43 – Kobe University Fukae CampusEastbound exit, westbound entrance
22.714.13-13Uozaki National Route 43 – Rokkō IslandEastbound entrance, westbound exit
27.317.03-14 / 3-15Maya Hyōgo Prefecture Route 491 – to Kansai Airport, Bayshore Route, HAT Kobe
29.618.43-16Ikutagawa Shin-Kobe Tunnel
National Route 2
Unnamed city streets		ETC-only entrance from Shin-Kobe Tunnel and National Route 2, eastbound exit to city streets
30.819.13-17 / 3-18 / PAKyōbashi Shin-Kobe Tunnel – to Kobe Airport, Bayshore Route, Harbor Highway, Port Island
34.221.33-19 / 3-20Yanagihara National Route 2
36.122.43-21 / 3-22Minatogawa Kobe-Yamate Route – to Kita-Kobe Route
Unnamed city streets		No access to Kobe-Yamate Route for eastbound traffic
38.123.73-23Wakamiya National Route 2 / National Route 28 / National Route 250 – SumaEastbound entrance, westbound exit
39.424.53-24TsukimiyamaHyōgo Prefecture Route 21 (Kobe-Akashi Route) – SumaEastbound entrance, westbound exit
39.424.5 Daini-Shinmei RoadWestern terminus of Kobe Route, expressway continues west as the Daini-Shimmei Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References
  1. "Osaka Grand Design" (PDF). Metropolis Development Division, Department of Housing and City Development Osaka Prefectural Government. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. Google (29 March 2020). "Kobe Route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. "Expressway Map". Hanshin Expressway Company. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  4. "Expressway Map". Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. "Since 1950s-1970". Hanshin Expressway. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  6. Nicholas D. Kristof (17 January 1995). "QUAKE IN JAPAN: THE OVERVIEW; AT LEAST 597 ARE KILLED IN JAPANESE QUAKE; KOBE DEVASTATED AS 2,000 BUILDINGS BUCKLE". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  7. "Earthquake devastates Kobe". BBC News. 17 January 1995. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  8. Hamid Ghasemi; Hisanori Otsuka; James D. Cooper; Hiroyuki Nakajima (1996). "Aftermath of The Kobe Earthquake". Public Roads. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  9. Gazetas, George; Anastasopoulos, Ioannis; Gerolymos, Nikos; Mylonakis, George; Syngros, Costis (2006). "The Collapse of the Hanshin Expressway (Fukae) Bridge, Kobe 1995: Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction, Reconstruction, Seismic Isolation". Entwicklungen in der Bodenmechanik, Bodendynamik und Geotechnik. Springer Science+Business Media. pp. 93–120. doi:10.1007/3-540-27438-3_7. ISBN 3-540-27425-1. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  10. "History(-2000)". Hanshin Expressway. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  11. "阪神高速3号神戸線2016年度 尼崎西-阿波座フレッシュアップ工事リーフレット" [Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route 2016 Amagasaki Nishi-Awaza Fresh Up Construction Leaflet] (PDF). Hanshin Expressway (in Japanese). 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  12. "3月19日（火）「尼崎ＰＡ」「南芦屋浜ＰＡ」を新たに同時オープンします" [Amagasaki and Minami-Ashiyahama parking areas to open on 19 March] (PDF). Hanshin Expressway (in Japanese). 21 February 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
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