Yokohama Northwest Route

The Yokohama Northwest Route (横浜北西線, Yokohama-hokusei-sen), signed as Route K7, is one of the tolled routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the Greater Tokyo Area and is one of seven of the routes in the system serving Kanagawa Prefecture. The route is a 7.1-kilometer-long (4.4 mi) expressway running west from a junction with the Tōmei Expressway in Aoba-ku, Yokohama, to the Daisan Keihin Road in Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama. Alongside the Yokohama North Route and the Daikoku Route, it connects the Tōmei Expressway in northern Yokohama to the region-spanning Bayshore Route.

Shuto Expressway Yokohama Northwest Route
首都高速神奈川7号横浜北西線
Yokohama Northwest Route highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited
Length7.1 km[1] (4.4 mi)
Existed2020–present
Major junctions
East endYokohama-Kōhoku Junction in Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama
Daisan Keihin Road
K7 Yokohama North Route
West endYokohama-Aoba Junction in Aoba-ku, Yokohama
Tōmei Expressway
National Route 246
Location
CountryJapan
Highway system

Route description

The Yokohama Northwest Route begins at Yokohama-Kōhoku Junction in Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama, where it meets the Yokohama North Route and Daisan Keihin Road. From there it travels west through Tsuzuki-ku where it enters a tunnel that carries the majority of the length of the expressway. The tunnel, named the Yokohama-hokusei Tunnel, has a length of 4.1 kilometers (2.5 mi). The tunnel is equipped with emergency escape slides to facilitate its evacuation.[2] Just outside of the western entrance to the tunnel the expressway enters Aoba-ku. The expressway meets its western terminus in the ward at a junction with the Tōmei Expressway. With the completion of the expressway, travel times between the Tōmei Expressway and the Bayshore Route are expected to be shortened by 20 to 40 minutes.[2]

The speed limit along the entire length of the Yokohama Northwest Route is set at 60 km/h.[3]

History
Yokohama-Kōhoku Junction, the eastern terminus of the expressway.
Aerial view of the western exit toll gates of the expressway.

Planning for the expressway began in August 2002 when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism held a public meeting for local residents on where the expressway should be placed. It was the first time residents had a say in where an expressway would be put in Japan, following precedents set in the United States and Europe. Construction plans were finalized in 2011 and sent to the prefectural government to be approved.[4]

Construction of the expressway commenced on 7 November 2014, two years after the plans for its construction were approved by the government of Kanagawa Prefecture. After the approval of the plans, the government emphasized their desire for the expressway to be completed prior to the 2020 Summer Olympics, though the games would later be rescheduled to be held in the summer of 2021.[5]

The Yokohama Northwest Route was scheduled to open on 22 March 2020 with celebratory events to be held leading up to the opening, such as a run down the newly built expressway. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these events were cancelled, but the opening of the expressway to traffic was not delayed. The route opened on schedule at 4:00 p.m. on 22 March 2020.[6][7]

Junction list

The entire expressway lies within Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture

Locationkm[8]miExitNameDestinationsNotes
Tsuzuki-ku0.00.0757/758Yokohama-Kōhoku Daisan Keihin Road
BK7 Yokohama North Route – to Bayshore Route, Yokohama-kōen		Eastern terminus, the expressway continues east as the Yokohama North Route
Aoba-ku7.14.4759Yokohama-Aoba Tōmei Expressway – Shizuoka, Tokyo
National Route 246 – Atsugi, Shibuya		Western terminus; E1 exit 3-1
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Route transition

See also

References
  1. "横浜北西線（横浜北線～東名高速）の概要" [Overview of the Yokohama Northwest Route (Yokohama North Route to Tōmei Expressway)] (PDF) (in Japanese). 26 September 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  2. "首都高 横浜北西線２２日開通" [Metropolitan Expressway Yokohama Northwest Route opening on the 22nd] (in Japanese). 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. "新たな高速道路を建設" [Build a new highway] (PDF). City of Yokohama (in Japanese). January 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. "住民の反対ゼロ　変わる高速道路建設、その新たな手法" [Zero opposition from residents: changing expressway construction, a new approach] (in Japanese). 28 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  5. "横浜環状北西線が事業認可から2年余で本格着工" [Full-scale construction begins on Yokohama Northwest Route less than two years after plans were approved] (in Japanese). 10 November 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  6. "横浜北西線開通記念イベントの中止について" [About the cancellation of Yokohama Northwest Route opening commemorative events] (in Japanese). 20 February 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  7. "(神奈川) 横浜北西線が開通　東名-横浜港のアクセス向上" [(Kanagawa) Yokohama Northwest Line opens. Tomei-Yokohama Port Access Improvement]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  8. Google (28 April 2020). "Yokohama Northwest Route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
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