EFFECTS OF THE OPENING OF THE BAY SHORE ROUTE

The Tokyo Bay Ring Road is a road network with a length of 160 km along the coastline of Tokyo Bay. This road lies on Kanagawa, Tokyo and Chiba prefectures and consists of a motorway and an ordinary road. The Bay Shore Route, stretching for 64km from Koya in Ichikawa City to Namiki in Kanazawa ward, Yokohama City, is a part of the Tokyo Bay Ring Road. The Bay Shore Route is a divided, access-controlled motorway with three lanes in each direction. Its design speed is 80 kilometers per hour. The Bay Shore Route plays a crucial role in a Tokyo Bay Shore area, and is constructed and managed by the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation. This paper describes the effects of the opening of the Bay Shore Route, especially paying attention to the Bay Shore Route 3rd, 4th and 5th Phase. The effects are discussed in terms of the strengthening of links between the cities in the Bay Shore area, the reduction of traffic congestion in the Bay Shore area, the reduction of travel time, the increase in freedom of choice of routes, and the improvement in environmental issues. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E204151.