The is a two-lane national

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

in Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. As of July 2019, it connects the city Kushiro to the adjacent town that bears the same name. It is owned and operated by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and is signed as E38 and E44 under their "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering."

Route description

The Kushiro Sotokan Road was built to reduce congestion along National Routes 38 and 44 through Kushiro and to build part of the larger with plans to link it to the

Dōtō Expressway The is a Two-lane freeway, 2-laned national Expressways of Japan, expressway in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. It forms the middle section of the . Overview The expressway is connects the east of ...

. The route has a total length of . Variable-message signs indicate the speed limit along the road, but the standard limit is 100 km/h.

History

Kushiro Sotokan Road was opened in two stages. The first and largest stage was the construction of the road between Kushiro-nishi Interchange and Kushiro-higashi interchange. It was completed on 12 March 2016. The second stage extended the road east to its current eastern terminus at Kushirobeppo Interchange. This stage was completed on 9 March 2019.

Junction list

The entire expressway is in Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido. Distance markers reflect the distance traveled along the Dōtō Expressway from its terminus at Chitose-Eniwa Junction with the

Hokkaido Expressway is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

. , colspan="8" style="text-align: center;", Through to (under construction) , colspan="8" style="text-align: center;", Through to JP Expressway E44

(planned)

References

{{Expressways of Japan Expressways in Japan