Kita-Kantō Expressway

Kita-Kantō Expressway
Kita-Kantō Expressway
北関東自動車道
Route information
Length	87.3 km (54.2 mi)
Existed	2000–present
Major junctions
From	Takasaki Junction in Takasaki, Gunma; Kan-Etsu Expressway
To	Mito-minani Interchange in Mito, Ibaraki; Higashi-Mito Road; National Route 6
Location
Country	Japan
Major cities	Maebashi, Isesaki, Ōta, Shimotsuke, Utsunomiya, Mooka, Sakuragawa, Kasama
Highway system
	National highways of Japan; Expressways of Japan;

The Kita-Kantō Expressway (北関東自動車道, Kita-Kantō Jidōsha-dō) (lit. North Kantō Expressway) is a 4-laned national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.

Overview edit

The route connects the capitals of the three northern prefectures in the Kantō region: Maebashi, Utsunomiya, and Mito.

The expressway begins at a junction with the Kan-etsu Expressway in Gunma Prefecture and heads east along the southern edge of the prefecture. The route ends abruptly in the city of Ōta, however the route will be extended to a junction with the Tōhoku Expressway in Tochigi Prefecture by 2011.^[3] The expressway then follows the route of the Tōhoku Expressway northward for about 13 km, then diverges from this expressway following an easterly course once more. It runs through the southern areas of Utsunomiya and heads into eastern areas of Tochigi Prefecture, where the route terminates once again in the city of Mooka. The section connecting Tochigi and Ibaraki Prefectures was scheduled to be completed in 2009.^[3] From Sakuragawa in western Ibaraki, the route continues towards a junction with the Jōban Expressway and runs along the southern edge of the Mito city area, where the expressway has its final terminus. At the terminus, the Higashi-Mito Road continues towards the Pacific Ocean coastline using the same roadway.

The route runs parallel to National Route 50 for most of its length.

List of interchanges and features edit

IC - interchange, SIC - smart interchange, JCT - junction, SA - service area, PA - parking area, BR - bridge

Prefecture	Location	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Gunma	Takasaki	0.0	0.0	9-2	Takasaki JCT	Kan-etsu Expressway	Roadway continues as Kan-etsu Expressway
	Takasaki			Tonegawa Bridge over the Tone River
	Maebashi	3	1.9	1	Maebashi-minami IC	Prefecture Route 11 (Maebashi Tamamura Route)
	Maebashi	7.5	4.7	2	Komagawa IC	Prefecture Route 2 (Maebashi Tatebayashi Route)
	Isesaki	11.7	7.3	2-1 PA	Hashie PA/SIC		Convenience store attached
	Isesaki	14.5	9.0	3	Isesaki IC	National Route 17
	Ōta	19.9	12.4	4	Ōta-Yabuzuka IC	Prefecture Route 315 (Ōhara Sakai Mitsugi Route)
		26.6	16.5	4-1 PA	Ōta-Gōdo PA/SIC		Gas station attached
		30.5	19.0	5	Ōta-Kiryū IC	National Route 122
Tochigi	Ashikaga	34.3	21.3	-	Ashikaga SIC		Scheduled to open in 2028
		40.8	25.4	6	Ashikaga IC	National Route 293
		47	29	6-1 PA	Izuruhara PA/SIC	Prefecture Route 175 (Yamagata Teraoka Route)
	Sano	49.1	30.5	7	Sano-Tanuma IC	Prefecture Route 347
	Tochigi	54.4	33.8	7-1	Iwafune JCT	Tōhoku Expressway
		68	42	8-1	Tochigi-Tsuga JCT	Tōhoku Expressway
		71.8	44.6	8	Tsuga IC	Prefecture Route 3 (Utsunomiya Kamewada Tochigi Route)
	Mibu	76.6	47.6	PA	Mibu PA
	Mibu	78.1	48.5	9	Mibu IC	Prefecture Route 71	Hanyūda Kamikamou Route
	Shimotsuke	82.3	51.1	-	Shimotsuke SIC		Expected to open FY2025
	Utsunomiya	86.5	53.7	10	Utsunomiya-Kaminokawa IC	National Route 4
	Mooka	94.2	58.5	11	Mooka IC	National Route 408
	Mooka			-	Gogyo River PA		(Provisional name)
Ibaraki	Sakuragawa	108.9	67.7	12	Sakuragawa-Chikusei IC	National Route 50
	Kasama	117.8	73.2	13	Kasama-nishi IC	Prefecture Route 64	Tsuchiura Kasama Route Bypass
		125.5	78.0	PA	Kasama PA/SIC
		126.9	78.9	14	Tomobe IC	National Route 355 Prefecture Route 16 (Ōarai Tomobe Route)
		134.3	83.5	8-2	Tomobe JCT	Jōban Expressway
	Ibaraki	138.4	86.0	15	Ibarakimachi-nishi IC	Prefecture Route 59 (Tamari Mito Route)
		140.6	87.4	15-1	Ibaraki JCT	Higashi-Kantō Expressway
		145.2	90.2	16	Ibarakimachi-higashi IC	National Route 6
	Mito	148.6	92.3	17	Mito-minami IC	National Route 6
Through to Higashi-Mito Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Electronic toll collection Proposed