The , signed as Route C2, is one of the routes of the

Shuto Expressway is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requi ...

system serving the central part of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

. 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 , signed as Route C1, is one of the routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the central part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The route is a complete loop around the central Tokyo wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, with a total length ...

, the C3

Tokyo Gaikan Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Overview The name Gaikan refers to the route's status as an outer ring road (beltway) for Tokyo. The expressway is also referred to simply as G ...

, and the C4

Ken-Ō Expressway The , or , is a partially completed ticket system toll expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by the Central Nippon Expressway Company and East Nippon Expressway Company. In conjunction with the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line and the Bayshore Route ...

Route description

The Central Circular Route has a total length of . It is a ring that lies approximately from the center of the city and goes through the wards of Edogawa,

Katsushika is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward calls itself Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km². The total area is 34.80 ...

, Adachi, Kita,

Itabashi is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it calls itself Itabashi City. Itabashi has sister-city relations with Burlington, Ontario, in Canada; Shijingshan District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China; and ...

Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku, a ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

, Nakano,

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Meguro is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character, but is also home to light industry, corporate ...

, and

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

The

Yamate Tunnel The carries the Central Circular Route (C2) of the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo, Japan, from the Takamatsu on-ramp in Toshima to near the Ōi Junction in Shinagawa. It has a length of . Lying below the surface, about 70 percent of the tunnel was ...

forms a key part of the Central Circular Route. A deep tunnel constructed beneath Yamate Dori, the first section over 11 km in length, was opened to traffic on 22 December 2007. From 2010, the tunnel extended the Central Circular Route south from near Ikebukuro to Ohashi Junction connecting with Route 3. The last through

and

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 the

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, 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 The signed as Route B, is one of the routes of the tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Greater Tokyo Area. The Bayshore Route is a stretch of toll highway that runs from the Kanazawa ward of Yokohama in the west, northeast to the city of ...

, which serves to close the southeastern part of the loop.

History

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 was completed on 7 March 2015.

Exit list

List of currently existing interchanges and exits ordered following the outer loop (clockwise):

References

{{coord missing, Tokyo C2 1982 establishments in Japan Ring roads in Japan Roads in Tokyo