The , or , is a partially completed tolled

expressway in Japan The of Japan make up a large network of controlled-access toll expressways. History Following World War II, Japan's economic revival led to a massive increase in personal automobile use. However the existing road system was inadequate t ...

. It is owned and operated by the

Central Nippon Expressway Company The , abbreviated as , is one of the main operators of expressways and toll roads in Japan. It is headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. The company was established on October 1, 2005 as a result of the privatization of Japan Highway Public C ...

. Upon completion, the expressway will form a second

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

around

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most popu ...

in conjunction with the

Isewangan Expressway The is a national expressway in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. Naming The route primarily follows the north shore of Ise Bay (wangan means bayshore in Japanese). Officially, the rout ...

. It is signed as C2 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering."

Route description

The Mei-Nikan is a ring-shaped high-speed national expressway built around from the city center of Nagoya. It is a long second ring road for the city, the outer ring road is the incompleted long

Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway The (lit. Tōkai Ring Expressway) is a toll road in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and managed by Central Nippon Expressway Company. Naming Officially, the route is designated as National Route 475. On some signs, the expressway is re ...

, and the inner ring route is the long Nagoya Expressway Ring Route. Upon completion, the Mei-Nikan Expressway will have a total length of . The Mei-Nikan runs concurrent to

Japan National Route 302 National Route 302 is a national highway of Japan connecting Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya and Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya is one of the 16 wards of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'' ...

, the only exception to this concurrency is the branch route that connects the ring road to the

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels Nat ...

. The section between Hikiyama Interchange and Ōmori Interchange consists of tunnels that run underneath waterways; vehicles carrying dangerous goods are forbidden from travelling through these tunnels and must use alternate routes.

History

The first section of what would become the Mei-Nikan Expressway was opened on 23 March 1988 between Kiyosu-higashi Interchange and Nagoya-nishi Interchange as part of the

Higashi-Meihan Expressway The is a four lane national Expressways of Japan, expressway in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. Naming Meihan is a kanji acronym of two characters. The first character represents Nagoya ...

. The expressway was opened in phases since then as part of the Higashi-Meihan until 2011, when it was redesignated as the Mei-Nikan Expressway.

Future

Construction is underway to extend the expressway south to the Isewangan Expressway southwest of Nagoya by 2020. Upon completion, this would complete the loop made around the city by the two expressways.

List of interchanges and features

* IC - interchange, SIC -

smart interchange A is a feature of Japanese expressways that provides exclusive access to and from the expressway for vehicles equipped with electronic toll collection (ETC). The feature increases accessibility to and from the expressway in less-populated areas ...

, JCT - junction, PA -

parking area A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

, SA - service area, TB -

toll gate Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to: * Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid Entertainment * "Tollgate" (Hale single) * '' The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heyer * '' The Toll Gate' ...

, TN -

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube const ...

*The expressway is located entirely in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture an ...

Nagoya Connecting Road

*Located in Meito-ku, Nagoya

References

External links

Central Nippon Expressway Company
{{Expressways of Japan Expressways in Japan Proposed roads in Japan Transport in Nagoya Roads in Aichi Prefecture