Hokuriku Expressway

Hokuriku Expressway
北陸自動車道
Route information
Length:	476.5 km[1] (296.1 mi)
Existed:	1972[2] – present
Major junctions
From:	Niigata-Chūō Junction in Niigata, Niigata Ban-etsu Expressway Nihonkai-Tōhoku Expressway
To:	Maibara Junction in Maibara, Shiga Meishin Expressway
Location
Major cities:	Nagaoka, Jōetsu, Uozu, Toyama, Kanazawa, Komatsu, Fukui, Sabae, Echizen, Tsuruga, Nagahama
Highway system
National highways of Japan Expressways of Japan

The Hokuriku Expressway (北陸自動車道 Hokuriku Jidōsha-dō), (abbreviated as Hokuriku Expwy (北陸道 Hokurikudō), is a 4-laned national expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company and Central Nippon Expressway Company.

Overview

The first section was opened in 1972 by Japan Highway Public Corporation and construction proceeded in stages until the entire route was completed in 1988.^[3] On October 1, 2005, all national expressways were privatized^[4] and management of the Hokuriku Expressway was divided between the East and Central Nippon Expressway Companies.^[5]

The route serves the Hokuriku region on the north central coast of Honshū, Japan's largest island. For most of its length it parallels National Route 8 and the Hokuriku Main Line of West Japan Railway Company.

Although the route officially originates in Niigata and terminates at Maibara, exit numbers and kilometer markings originate from Maibara.

Features

Around Tsuruga Interchange, the south-bound lanes cross over the north-bound lanes and diverges drastically. The expressway rejoins normally at a point near Suizu Parking Area.

There are 14 tunnels between Kinomoto Interchange and Takefu Interchange (two of which are longer than 2,000 m), and 26 tunnels between Asahi Interchange and Jōetsu Interchange (eight of which are longer than 2,000 m).

List of interchanges and features

• IC - interchange, SIC - smart interchange, JCT - junction, SA - service area, PA - parking area, BS - bus stop, TN - tunnel, CB - snow chains

No.	Name	Connections	Dist. from Maibara	Bus Stop	Notes	Location
27-1	Maibara JCT	Meishin Expressway	0.0			Maibara	Shiga
1	Maibara IC	National Route 21	0.7
PA	Kanda PA		4.7	X		Nagahama
2	Nagahama IC	Pref. Route 37 (Nakayama Higashi Kōsaka Route)	9.7	X
BS	Torahime Bus Stop			X	Closed
BS	Kohoku Bus Stop			X	Closed
BS	Takatsuki Bus Stop			X	Closed
3	Kinomoto IC	National Route 8 National Route 365	23.6	X
SA	Shizugatake SA		25.8
BS/CB	Yogo Bus Stop Yogo Chain Base			X	Bus Stop closed
BS/CB	Yogo-kita Bus Stop Yogo-kita Chain Base			X	Bus Stop closed
PA	Tone PA		38.5	X		Tsuruga	Fukui
<3-1>	Tsuruga JCT	Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway	45.7	○
4	Tsuruga IC	National Route 8 (Tsuruga Bypass)	46.8	○
BS/CB	Tajiri (South-bound) Akihara (North-bound)			X	Bus Stop closed
PA	Suizu PA		57.1	X
5	Imajō IC	National Route 365	68.3	X		Minamiechizen
SA	Nanjō SA		72.2	X
6	Takefu IC	Pref. Route 262 (Takefu Inter Higashi Route) Pref. Route 40 (Takefu Inter Route)	80.8	○		Echizen
7	Sabae IC	Pref. Route 105 (Sabae Imadate Route) Pref. Route 39 (Sabae Inter Route)	86.2	○		Sabae
PA	Kitasabae PA		89.3
8	Fukui IC	National Route 158	97.4	○		Fukui
9	Fukui-kita IC/JCT	Chūbu-Jūkan Expressway (Planned) National Route 416	103.8	○
10	Maruoka IC	Pref. Route 38 (Maruoka Inter Route)	110.6	○		Sakai
PA	Onagatani PA		113.6
11	Kanazu IC	Pref. Route 37 (Kanazu Inter Route)	121.1			Awara
12	Kaga IC	Pref. Route 61 (Kaga Inter Route)	128.4			Kaga	Ishikawa
SA	Amagozen SA		137.0	○
13	Katayamazu IC	Pref. Route 20 (Komatsu Kaga Route)	140.9
PA	Ataka PA/SIC		144.9			Komatsu
14	Komatsu IC	Pref. Route 25 (Kanazawa Mikawa Komatsu Route)	149.5	○
15	Mikawa IC	Pref. Route 25 (Kanazawa Mikawa Komatsu Route) Pref. Route 58 (Tsurugi Mikawa Inter Route)	160.5			Hakusan
PA	Tokumitsu PA/SIC		164.9	○	Highway Oasis
BS	Mattō Bus Stop		169.6	X	closed by replacement
15-2	Hakusan IC	Pref. Route 8 (Mattō Unoke Route)	170.1	○	incl. Mattō Bus Stop
16	Kanazawa-nishi IC	National Route 8 (Kanazawa Bypass)	172.7			Kanazawa
17	Kanazawa-higashi IC	National Route 8 (Kanazawa Bypass)	180.4
17-1	Kanazawa-morimoto IC	National Route 159 (Kanazawa Tōbu Kanjō Road) National Route 304	183.6
PA	Fudōji PA		184.9
18	Oyabe IC	Pref. Route 42 (Oyabe Fukumitsu Route	198.0			Oyabe	Toyama
SA	Oyabegawa Service Area SA		200.1
19	Oyabe-Tonami JCT	Tōkai-Hokuriku Expressway Nōetsu Expressway	203.5
						Tonami
20	Tonami IC	National Route 359	207.4
PA	Takaoka PA		216.3			Takaoka
21	Kosugi IC	National Route 472	221.7			Imizu
PA	Kureha PA		224.6
21-1	Toyama-nishi IC	Pref. Route 41 (Shinminato Hiraoka Route)	226.9			Toyama
22	Toyama IC	National Route 41	234.3
PA	Nagaresugi PA		240.9
23	Tateyama IC	Pref. Route 3 (Toyama Tateyama Uozu Route)	246.6			Tateyama
24	Namerikawa IC	Pref. Route 51 (Minowa Namerikawa Inter Route)	254.7	○		Namerikawa
SA	Arisoumi SA		258.4		Maibara-bound
			261.8		Niigata-bound	Uozu
25	Uozu IC	Pref. Route 52 (Ishigaki Uozu Inter Route)	264.0
26	Kurobe IC	Pref. Route 53 (Wakaguri Ikuji Route)	273.6	○		Kurobe
PA	Nyūzen PA/SIC		278.1			Nyūzen
27	Asahi IC	National Route 8	282.3			Asahi
PA	Etchūsakai PA		288.6
28	Oyashirazu IC	National Route 8	299.6			Itoigawa	Niigata
29	Itoigawa IC	National Route 148	312.1
PA	Rendaiji PA		313.7
BS	Hayakawa Bus Stop		318.2	○
30	Nou IC	Pref. Route 246 (Nishitobiyama Nō Route) Pref. Route 88 (Nō Inter Route)	326.7	○
31/SA	Nadachi Tanihama IC/ SA	Pref. Route 87 (Nadachi Tanihama Inter Route)	341.8	○		Jōetsu
31-1	Jōetsu JCT	Jōshin-etsu Expressway	351.6
BS	Kida Bus Stop		353.6	○
32	Jōetsu IC	National Route 18 (Jōshin Bypass)	356.0
BS	Kubiki Bus Stop		360.8	○
PA	Ōgata PA/SIC	Pref. Route 77 (Jōetsu Kubiki Ōgata Route)	365.4		SIC: Open 06:00-22:00
BS	Katamachi Bus Stop		368.0	○
33	Kakizaki IC	National Route 8 (Kakizaki Bypass)	373.9	○
34/SA	Yoneyama IC/ SA	National Route 8	385.3		SA: Niigata-bound	Kashiwazaki
SA	Yoneyama SA		386.4		Maibara-bound
BS	Kamigata Bus Stop		393.6	○
35	Kashiwazaki IC	National Route 252	397.2
BS	Sochi Bus Stop		403.0	○
PA	Kariwa PA		405.9			Kariwa
36	Nishiyama IC	Pref. Route 23 (Kashiwazaki Takahama Horinouchi Route) Pref. Route 393 (Raihai Nagaoka Route)	407.9	○		Kashiwazaki
PA	Ōzumi PA		415.1	○		Nagaoka
37	Nagaoka JCT	Kan-Etsu Expressway	421.5
BS	Nagaoka-kita Bus Stop		424.1	○
38	Nakanoshima-Mitsuke IC	National Route 8 (Mitsuke Bypass)	432.2
PA	Sakae PA		441.6	○		Sanjō
39	Sanjō-Tsubame IC	National Route 289	447.5	○		Tsubame
40	Maki-Katahigashi IC	Pref. Route 9 (Nagaoka Tochio Maki Route) National Route 460	457.8	○		Nishikan-ku, Niigata
PA	Kurosaki PA/SIC		467.1		SIC: Open 06:00-22:00	Nishi-ku, Niigata
BS	Toppara Bus Stop		471.1	○
41	Niigata-nishi IC	National Route 116 (Niigata Bypass)	473.0
42	Niigata-Chūō JCT	Ban-etsu Expressway	476.5			Kōnan-ku, Niigata
Through to Nihonkai-Tōhoku Expressway

References

1. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Kinki Regional Development Bureau. "Road Timetable" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-04-16.
2. "Expressway Opening Dates" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-04-16.
3. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Hokuriku Regional Development Bureau. "Oyashirazu Pia Park Profile" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-04-16.
4. Mizutani, Fumitoshi; Uranishi, Shuji (2006). Privatization of the Japan Highway Public Corporation: Policy Assessment (pdf). 46th Congress for the European Regional Science Association. Volos, Greece. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
5. "NEXCO-Central Business Outline" (pdf). Retrieved 2008-04-13.

External links

• East Nippon Expressway Company
• Central Nippon Expressway Company