The , signed as Route C2, is one of the routes of the

Shuto Expressway is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requi ...

system serving the central part of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as th ...

. The route is a circumferential highway running through the outer wards of Tokyo. The route is the middle of four ring expressways planned for the city; the other three being the C1 Inner Circular Route, the C3 Tokyo Gaikan Expressway, and the C4 Ken-Ō Expressway.

Route description

The Central Circular Route has a total length of . It is a ring that lies approximately from the center of the city and goes through the wards of Edogawa,

Katsushika is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward calls itself Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km². The total area is 34.80 ...

, Adachi,

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Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku, ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administrati ...

, Nakano,

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

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, and

Shinagawa is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English language, English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density ...

The Yamate Tunnel forms a key part of the Central Circular Route. A deep tunnel constructed beneath Yamate Dori, the first section over 11 km in length, was opened to traffic on 22 December 2007. From 2010, the tunnel extended the Central Circular Route south from near

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second larges ...

to Ohashi Junction connecting with Route 3. The last through

and

was opened to traffic on 7 March 2015. When this last section of the tunnel opened the Yamate Tunnel formed Japan's longest, and the world's second longest road tunnel. During the tunnel's first week of operations, traffic volume on the Inner Circular Route was reduced by seven percent from the previous week, and congestion on expressways inside the Central Circular Route (an index measured by recording segments where average traffic speed is less than 40 km/h, and multiplying the affected distance by the affected time) was approximately halved from the previous week. The C2 begins and ends at the

Bayshore Route The signed as Route B, is one of the routes of the tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Greater Tokyo Area. The Bayshore Route is a stretch of toll highway that runs from the Kanazawa ward of Yokohama in the west, northeast to the city of ...

, which serves to close the southeastern part of the loop.

History

The first section of the Central Circular Route was opened to traffic on 30 March 1982. Since then, the expressway was completed in phases. Construction work on underground sections of the route began in 1992. Given the extensive tunneling and engineering challenges involved, construction costs for the route were estimated to be 2 trillion yen. The Central Circular Route was completed on 7 March 2015.

Exit list

List of currently existing interchanges and exits ordered following the outer loop (clockwise):

References

{{coord missing, Tokyo C2 1982 establishments in Japan Ring roads in Japan Roads in Tokyo