On January 24, Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway held a regular press conference at its headquarters in Kasumigaseki. The speaker was Toru Terayama, President and Representative Director.
As for the progress of new construction and renewal projects, the construction of temporary receiving piers to replace the superstructure will begin by the end of this fiscal year, since the existing piers of the Tokyo Central Loop Line, which interfere with the future underground roadway, need to be removed in conjunction with the undergrounding of the Nihonbashi section.
According to the construction outline, six temporary bearing piers from Temporary 4005 to Temporary 4008 are planned to be installed near the Nihonbashi Bridge, and after completion, the existing piers will be removed and a shield machine will be used to excavate the underground passageway. The temporary piers will be removed by 2040, when the undergrounding of the Nihonbashi section is scheduled to be completed.
In addition, as already announced, the Yaesu Line will be closed to traffic for an extended period of time from early April until FY2035 due to the need to reconstruct a portion of the Yaesu Line in conjunction with the undergrounding. At the same time, the Tokyo Expressway (KK Line) will be discontinued.
The delivery of the semiconductors for the expansion of ETC entrances, which are currently in operation at 35 locations, has been delayed due to a shortage of semiconductors, but this delivery has resumed, and the expansion of new ETC entrances will begin in FY2025.
The construction work will begin in late May with the entrance closed to traffic, and will be expanded to a total of 90 locations by the end of the fiscal year, with 55 locations to be converted to ETC-only by the end of the fiscal year. The total number of tollgates along the entire Metropolitan Expressway is 179, but by the spring of 2028, all but a few, such as the mainline tollgates, will be ETC-only (approximately 90% of the total). This is expected to reduce the current situation where ETC cars and cash cars get mixed up and stop and start repeatedly, which in turn will help alleviate traffic congestion.
Toll booths will be removed to make them unmanned, and TV intercoms will be installed to communicate with drivers in case of any inconvenience. In addition, if a driver forgets to insert his or her ETC card or otherwise fails to collect the toll, a “retry” will be performed using an additional antenna installed immediately after the gate.
Regarding future publicity, President Terayama stated that currently efforts are being made to publicize and publicize the ETC-only conversion and construction work, but that the company will consider how to publicize the cash-only vehicles (e.g., where cash can be used).
Please refer to the related article for the specific locations of the 55 tollgates that will be converted to ETC-only tollgates by the end of FY2025.
It has been 20 years since the privatization of the Metropolitan Expressway, and in the past quarter century, traffic congestion has been reduced by half through the complete passage of the Central Loop Line and junction improvements, but for the next 20 years, the “Comfortable Driving Vision 2040” was formulated with the goal of further reducing traffic congestion.
The vision has three pillars and 21 concrete proposals, including the aforementioned measures already underway, as well as the consideration of new roads, new entrances and exits, road pricing, information provision linked to ETC2.0 and navigation apps, and advanced traffic management using the digital twin. The goal is to reduce traffic congestion by half from the current level by 2040 through the use of IT as well as road maintenance.
President Terayama concluded the press conference by saying, “This year marks the 20th anniversary of the privatization of Metropolitan Expressway. We are determined to fulfill our mission of contributing to the creation of a safe, smooth network and an affluent, comfortable society in the Tokyo metropolitan area based on the philosophy of putting the customer first,” he reiterated.
© Source travel watch
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.