Light at the end of the tunnel

The Yamate Tunnel is set to carry traffic from Shibuya and Shinjuku on the Shuto Expressway’s Central Circular Route (C2) when it opens later this month. The impressive sight of the massive tunnel being built, and of oversized construction parts being transported through Tokyo’s streets in the middle of the night, certainly caught the attention of Tokyoites.

The Yamate Tunnel Walk on Mar 7 gave the public its last chance to walk through the inside of the gargantuan structure. The walk was held at the section known as the Ohashi Junction, which is not far from Ikejiri-Ohashi Station on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line.

Though billed as a simple walk through the 4.3 km loop of road that forms the junction, and despite the rain, around 15,000 people turned up to join in. Once inside the tunnel walkers were treated to the spectacle of colourful illuminated displays, a driving simulation game projected onto one of the walls and displays of emergency vehicles like police cars and fire engines. With all the activity – photo-snappers, demonstrations of how water can be sprayed – there wasn’t a dull moment, so much so that walkers were distracted from the crowds moving on a single path.

The Yamate Tunnel is scheduled to be opened at 4pm on Sun Mar 28. Though the public isn’t able to walk on through anymore, if you are a fan of large scale constructions you might still have a chance with the Shuto Expressway: the Kanagawa Kawasaki Route (K6) is scheduled to open in 2010 and the Central Circular Route’s Shinagawa Route (the last section of C2) is set to open in 2013.

Yamate Tunnel Walk:
https://c2info.jp/tunnel-walk/ (Japanese only)
Kanagawa Kawasaki Route (K6):
www.kanagaway.com/k6-kawasaki/ (Japanese only)
Central Circular Route Shinagawa Route (C2):
www.c2info.jp/sinagawa/ (Japanese only)

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