The is a 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 the

Kinki region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolit ...

of Japan. It is owned and operated by

West Nippon Expressway Company The , abbreviated as , is one of the main operators of expressways and toll roads in Japan. It is headquartered on the 19th floor of Dojima Avanza in Kita-ku, Osaka. The company was established on October 1, 2005, as a result of the privatization o ...

Naming

Hanwa is a

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of two characters. The first character represents

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

(大阪) and the second character represents

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...

(和歌山). Officially, the route is designated as the

Kinki Expressway is a national expressway in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by West Nippon Expressway Company. In conjunction with the Chūgoku Expressway and the Osaka Chūō Kanjōsen of Osaka Prefectural Road 2, it will form a full out ...

Matsubara Nachikatsuura Route, however this designation does not appear on any signage.

Overview

The expressway is an important route connecting the greater

area with

, the capital of

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

. Beyond Wakayama, the route follows a southerly course parallel to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

to its terminus with National Route 42 in Tanabe. The first section of the expressway was opened to traffic in 1974. The final section of the expressway (5.8 km between Minabe Interchange and Nanki-Tanabe Interchange) was opened on November 11, 2007. The expressway is 6 lanes from Matsubara Junction to Sakai Junction, 4 lanes from Sakai Junction to Arida Interchange and the remainder is 2 lanes. Construction to expand the route to 4 lanes is currently underway on the section between Arida Interchange and Gobō Interchange. The speed limit is 80 km/h on 4 to 6-laned sections and 70 km/h on 2-laned sections.

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 Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

, SA -

service area Service area may refer to: * Rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary r ...

, 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 ...

, BS - bus stop, 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 cons ...

, BR -

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

External links

West Nippon Expressway Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanwa Expressway Expressways in Japan