Japan National Route 279

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Japanese National Route Sign 0279.svg
National Route 279
国道279号
Japan National Route 279
Japan National Route 279 highlighted in red
Route279 Mutsu.JPG
Route information
Length134.0 km [1]  (83.3 mi)
Existed1970–present
Major junctions
North endJapanese National Route Sign 0005.svgJapanese National Route Sign 0278.svg National Route 5  / National Route 278
in Hakodate, Hokkaido
Major intersections
South endJapanese National Route Sign 0004.svg National Route 4
in Noheji, Aomori
Location
Country Japan
Highway system
Japanese National Route Sign 0278.svg National Route 278 Japanese National Route Sign 0280.svg National Route 280

National Route 279 (国道279号, Kokudō Nihyaku nana-jukyūgō) is a national highway of Japan that traverses the prefectures of Aomori and Hokkaido, as well as the Tsugaru Strait that separates them. The 134.0-kilometer (83.3 mi) highway begins at an intersection with National Route 5 in Hakodate, then crosses the Tsugaru Strait on a ferry from Hakodate to Ōma, Aomori, that it shares with National Route 279, where it then travels south through eastern Aomori Prefecture, passing through the city of Mutsu before ending at an intersection with National Route 4 in Noheji.

Contents

National Route 279's path across Aomori follows one of the oldest roads in northern Japan, a pilgrimage path called the Tanabu Kaidō (田名部街道) to Mount Osore, a caldera believed in Japanese mythology to be a gate to the underworld.

Route description

Hakodate

National Route 279 begins at an intersection with National Route 5 in central Hakodate, east of Hakodate Station. The highway travels southwest through the city, then curves to the northwest, and turns northeast towards the former site of the city's ferry terminal, which was moved to the northwest of Hakodate Station. The highway's brief 1.8-kilometer (1.1 mi) route in Hokkaido ends at the former terminal, which has since been converted into a retail area. [2] Aside from the last 100 meters (330 ft) of the highway near the ferry terminal, the highway also carries the Main Line of the Hakodate City Tram in its median. [3]

Aomori Prefecture

National Route 279 along the coast of the Tsugaru Strait hamanasurain - panoramio - Yobito KAYANUMA.jpg
National Route 279 along the coast of the Tsugaru Strait

The highway is then carried south across the Tsugaru Strait via the Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry to Ōma on the northern tip of Aomori Prefecture's Shimokita Peninsula. From the route's northern terminus in Hakodate to Ōma, National Route 338 runs concurrent with National Route 279; however, in Ōma, National Route 338 leaves the concurrency, traveling south while Route 279 heads southeast towards Mutsu. In Aomori, Route 279 is known as the Mutsu Hamanasu Line, named after the hamanasu , known in English as the Rosa rugosa, a shrub-like rose that grows on the beaches of Japan. [4] [5]

In Mutsu, it intersects with the northern end of the Mutsu Bypass, an auxiliary parallel route of the highway, and routes 279 and 338 briefly meet again, sharing a short concurrency. After traveling through the central district of the city together, National Route 338 leaves National Route 279 at the southern end of the Mutsu Bypass. It continues its path southeast across the peninsula while National Route 279 heads south towards Yokohama, and eventually Noheji at the southern base of the peninsula. The highway reaches a rest area on the north shore of the Miho River in Yokohama. [6] Between Yokohama and Noheji, National Route 279 is closely paralleled by the Shimokita Expressway, a highway signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 279 that has supplanted the original route as the main thoroughfare between Yokohama and Noheji. The two highways meet at junction in southern Yokohama, where the original route continues south along Mutsu Bay while the expressway takes a more inland route through the village of Rokkasho. Upon entering Noheji, the route travels southwest through sparsely populated coastal woodlands before entering the central part of the town where it curves to the south. After passing by the town hall, the route terminates at an intersection with National Route 4. [7]

Average daily traffic

National Route 279 is maintained by the Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which conducts surveys on the Japan's national routes and expressways every five years to measure their average daily traffic. In 2015, the most utilized point along the route, was at the junction between it and Aomori Route 7 in Mutsu, where a daily average of 9,440 vehicles traveled on National Route 279. The least busy section of the highway was between the ferry terminal at Ōma and the intersection where the highway meets National Route 338, it carried an average of only 1,337 vehicles. [8]

History

National Route 279 near the old ferry terminal in Hakodate R279 Hakodate.jpg
National Route 279 near the old ferry terminal in Hakodate

National Route 279 was preceded by the Tanabu-kaidō (田名部街道), a road established by the Nanbu clan during the Edo period as a branch of the longer Ōshū Kaidō (now known as National Route 4). It traveled between Noheji-shukuba and the Buddhist temple and folk religion pilgrimage destination of Mount Osore, believed to be a mystical gate to the underworld in both Ainu mythology and Japanese Buddhism, [9] near the former town of Tanabu (now part of Mutsu). The road appears on maps as early as 1647, and by 1699 it was labeled as the Tanabu-kaidō on a map produced by the Nanbu. Pilgrimages along the Tanabu-kaidō to Mount Osore date back to 862, but it is uncertain if the establishment of a maintained road took place before the Nanbu built it. [10]

National Route 279 was established by the Cabinet of Japan in 1970 along the Tanabu-kaidō between Noheji and Ōma, the ferry linking Ōma and Hakodate, and the short section in Hakodate. [11] [12] Since its designation, bypasses of the original route have been built, these include the incomplete, limited-access Shimokita Expressway between Noheji and Yokohama, as well as the Nimaibashi Bypass in Mutsu. [13]

Incidents and closures

On 1 February 2012, a blizzard trapped 329 people on the highway in Aomori Prefecture. [14] On 9 August 2021, most of a bridge over the Koaka River on the northern edge of Mutsu was washed away during Tropical Storm Lupit. [15] No people were harmed as a result of the bridge collapse; however, it cut off direct highway access to Mutsu for the residents of Ōma and Kazamaura until a signalized one-lane bridge was built on 20 June 2022 to the south of the original to partially restore the connection. [16] [17]

Major intersections

PrefectureLocationkm [18] [19] miDestinationsNotes
Hokkaido Hakodate 0.00.0Japanese National Route Sign 0005.svgJapanese National Route Sign 0278.svg National Route 5  / National Route 278 north – to Sapporo, Oshamambe, Mount E Northern terminus; northern end of Route 338 concurrency
1.20.75Hokkaido Route 675 (Tachimachi Misaki Hakodate Teishajō route)
1.71.1Hokkaido Route 457 (Hakodate Gyokō route)
Tsugaru Strait 1.8–
28.8
1.1–
17.9
Japan ferry sign.png Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry
Aomori Ōma 30.018.6Japanese National Route Sign 0338.svg National Route 338 south – to Hotokegaura, Sai Southern end of Route 338 concurrency
Mutsu 60.337.5Aomori Prefecture Route 4 – to Osorezan
69.743.3Aomori Prefecture Route 266 east – to Shiriyazaki
74.546.3Japanese National Route Sign 0279.svg National Route 279 south (Mutsu Bypass)
75.346.8Japanese National Route Sign 0338.svg National Route 338 (Ōminato Bypass)
76.047.2Aomori Prefecture Route 6
76.547.5Japanese National Route Sign 0338.svg National Route 338 northNorthern end of National Route 338 concurrency
76.947.8Aomori Prefecture Route 6 north – to Shiriyazaki
77.248.0Japanese National Route Sign 0279.svgJapanese National Route Sign 0338.svg National Route 279 north (Mutsu Bypass) / National Route 338 south – to Hachinohe, Misawa Southern end of National Route 338 concurrency
78.648.8Aomori Prefecture Route 4 north – to Osorezan, Central Mutsu
91.156.6Aomori Prefecture Route 7 east – to Odanosawa
Yokohama 103.564.3Aomori Prefecture Route 179 – to Yokohama Town office, Mutsu-Yokohama Station, Rokkasho
105.865.7Aomori Prefecture Route 179 north – to Yokohama Town office, Mutsu-Yokohama Station
111.469.2Japanese National Route Sign 0279.svg National Route 279 south (Shimokita Expressway) – to Aomori, Towada Yokohama-Fukkoshi Interchange
Noheji 121.975.7Aomori Prefecture Route 180 east – to Rokkasho, Noheji-kita Interchange
128.279.7Aomori Prefecture Route 5 east – to Rokkasho, Noheji-kimyō Interchange
131.781.8Aomori Prefecture Route 243 west – to Aomori
132.482.3Aomori Prefecture Route 246 east – to Mizuhami
133.082.6Aomori Prefecture Route 178
134.083.3Shinkansen jre.svgJapanese National Route Sign 0004.svgJapanese National Route Sign 0045.svg National Route 4  / National Route 45 – to Towada, Shichinohe, Aomori, Shichinohe-Towada Station Southern terminus; National Route 45 is not signed
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary routes

Shimokita Expressway

The Shimokita Expressway is an incomplete two-lane national expressway in Aomori Prefecture that is signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 279. The expressway travels south from Yokohama through the municipalities of Rokkasho and Noheji, where the main section of the expressway currently ends at an interchange with National Route 4. [20] A short expressway stub opened in Mutsu in December 2019. When completed, the expressway will stretch 68 kilometers (42 mi) from Mutsu south to the town of Shichinohe. [21]

Mutsu Bypass

The Mutsu Bypass is a 2.2-kilometer-long (1.4 mi) auxiliary route of National Route 279 in the central district of Mutsu. From its northern terminus with its parent route, it heads southeast and crosses over the Jotachi River. It has a junction with the Ōminato Bypass, an auxiliary route of National Route 338. After this junction the Mutsu Bypass travels south, paralleling the main line of National Route 279 until it reaches its southern terminus at the junction of National Routes 279 and 338. [22] [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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