Kobe Route

The Kobe Route (神戸線, Kobe-sen), signed as Route 3, is one of the routes of the Hanshin Expressway system serving the Keihanshin area in Kansai, Japan. It is an intercity route that travels in an east to west direction from Osaka to Kobe, with a total length of 39.4 kilometers (24.5 mi).

Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route 阪神高速3号神戸線
The Kobe Route highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Hanshin Expressway Company, Limited
Length	39.4 km (24.5 mi)
Existed	1966–present
Major junctions
East end	Awaza Junction in Nishi-ku, Osaka Ōsakakō Route
West end	Daini-Shinmei Road
Highway system
National highways of Japan Expressways of Japan

Route description

The Kobe Route begins at Awaza Junction in Nishi-ku, Osaka, where it meets the Ōsakakō Route. From there it travels west from central Osaka. It meets the planned outer loop expressway of the city, the partially completed Yodogawa-Sagan Route, on the southern bank of the Yodo River.[1] After this, the expressway crosses into the city of Amagasaki in eastern Hyōgo Prefecture. Upon entering Amagasaki, the expressway meets National Route 43, which then travels directly alongside the expressway all the way to Kobe.[2]

Along the way to Kobe the expressway has a junction with the Meishin Expressway, the western terminus of that expressway, though direct access to the Meishin Expressway is limited with access being completed via National Route 43.[3] In Nada-ku, Kobe, National Route 43 diverges from the Kobe Route and ends at an intersection with National Route 2. National Route 2 then takes its place as the parallel road for the Kobe Route through central Kobe.[3]

In central Kobe, the expressway closely follows the coastline of the Port of Kobe. Along this stretch of the route, a junction connects the expressway to the Shin-Kobe Tunnel.[3] Continuing west, the expressway leaves the coastline and central Kobe. It then curves north in Suma-ku, Kobe, leaving National Route 2. The expressway meets its western terminus in the ward, but continues west as the Daini-Shinmei Road.[4]

History

A collapsed section of the Kobe Route after the Great Hanshin earthquake.

The first section of the Kobe Route was opened in 1966. The elevated section of the expressway in central Kobe was built in 1969 during the preparation for the Expo '70 world's fair held in nearby Suita.[5]

When 18 spans of this section collapsed in 1995 during the Great Hanshin earthquake, the stricken expressway became a focal point of the disaster for the media.[6][7] The structure could not resist the forces of the unprecedented earthquake due to various design inadequacies, including too shallow a foundation for the support pillars and a lack of sufficient either external or internal transverse reinforcement for the pillars. The collapse of the structure did not result in any casualties. The elevated expressway was rebuilt by the end of 1996 and the surviving pillars were retrofitted with steel sheathing to prevent the same type of failure from recurring.[8][9]

On 18 December 2010, the Kobe Route was linked to the Kobe-Yamate Route after Minatogawa Junction was opened to traffic.[10] On 31 October 2016, Amagasaki-Shūya Toll Gate was removed,[11] it was replaced with a parking area that opened on 19 March 2019.[12]

List of interchanges

Prefecture	Location	km[2]	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Osaka	Osaka	0.0	0.0	–	Awaza	Ōsakakō Route – to Loop Route	Eastern terminus
		0.3	0.19	3-01	Nishinagahori	Osaka Prefecture Route 29 (Shin-Naniwasuji)	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
		0.9	0.56	3-02	Nakanoshima-nishi	Nakanoshima-dōri Osaka Prefecture Route 29 – to Loop Route	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
		3.1	1.9	3-03	Ebie	Osaka-Shidōkujō-Umeda Route	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
		3.2	2.0	–	Ebie	Yodogawa-Sagan Route – to Kansai Airport, Bayshore Route	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
		4.2	2.6	3-04	Himejima	Unnamed city streets	Eastbound entrance, westbound exit
		5.1	3.2	3-05	Ōwada	Yodogawa-dōri	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
Hyōgo	Amagasaki	7.0	4.3	3-06	Amagasaki-higashi	Unnamed city streets	Eastbound exit only
		8.3	5.2	PA	Amagasaki		Parking area for westbound traffic; formerly a toll gate
		10.7	6.6	3-07	Amagasaki-nishi	Unnamed city streets	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
	Nishinomiya	11.9	7.4	3-08	Mukogawa	National Route 43 – to Meishin Expressway, Koshien Stadium	Eastbound entrance, westbound exit; westbound traffic for the Meishin Expressway needs to exit here.
		14.5	9.0	3-09	Nishinomiya	Meishin Expressway east – to Osaka Airport	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance; western terminus of E1
		16.8	10.4	3-10	Nishinomiya	National Route 43 – Koshien Stadium	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
	Ashiya	17.4	10.8	3-11	Ashiya	National Route 43	Eastbound entrance, westbound exit
		17.8	11.1		Ashiya Toll Booth		Westbound traffic only
	Kobe	21.4	13.3	3-12	Fukae	National Route 43 – Kobe University Fukae Campus	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
		22.7	14.1	3-13	Uozaki	National Route 43 – Rokkō Island	Eastbound entrance, westbound exit
		27.3	17.0	3-14 / 3-15	Maya	Hyōgo Prefecture Route 491 – to Kansai Airport, Bayshore Route, HAT Kobe
		29.6	18.4	3-16	Ikutagawa	Shin-Kobe Tunnel National Route 2 Unnamed city streets	ETC-only entrance from Shin-Kobe Tunnel and National Route 2, eastbound exit to city streets
		30.8	19.1	3-17 / 3-18 / PA	Kyōbashi	Shin-Kobe Tunnel – to Kobe Airport, Bayshore Route, Harbor Highway, Port Island
		34.2	21.3	3-19 / 3-20	Yanagihara	National Route 2
		36.1	22.4	3-21 / 3-22	Minatogawa	Kobe-Yamate Route – to Kita-Kobe Route Unnamed city streets	No access to Kobe-Yamate Route for eastbound traffic
		38.1	23.7	3-23	Wakamiya	National Route 2 / National Route 28 / National Route 250 – Suma	Eastbound entrance, westbound exit
		39.4	24.5	3-24	Tsukimiyama	Hyōgo Prefecture Route 21 (Kobe-Akashi Route) – Suma	Eastbound entrance, westbound exit
		39.4	24.5			Daini-Shinmei Road	Western terminus of Kobe Route, expressway continues west as the Daini-Shimmei Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Route transition

See also

•  Japan portal
•  Roads portal

References

1. "Osaka Grand Design" (PDF). Metropolis Development Division, Department of Housing and City Development Osaka Prefectural Government. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
2. Google (29 March 2020). "Kobe Route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
3. "Expressway Map". Hanshin Expressway Company. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
4. "Expressway Map". Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
5. "Since 1950s-1970". Hanshin Expressway. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
6. Nicholas D. Kristof (17 January 1995). "QUAKE IN JAPAN: THE OVERVIEW; AT LEAST 597 ARE KILLED IN JAPANESE QUAKE; KOBE DEVASTATED AS 2,000 BUILDINGS BUCKLE". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
7. "Earthquake devastates Kobe". BBC News. 17 January 1995. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
8. Hamid Ghasemi; Hisanori Otsuka; James D. Cooper; Hiroyuki Nakajima (1996). "Aftermath of The Kobe Earthquake". Public Roads. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
9. "The Collapse of the Hanshin Expressway (Fukae) Bridge, Kobe 1995: Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction, Reconstruction, Seismic Isolation". Springer Science+Business Media. 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
10. "History(-2000)". Hanshin Expressway. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
11. "阪神高速3号神戸線2016年度 尼崎西-阿波座フレッシュアップ工事リーフレット" [Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route 2016 Amagasaki Nishi-Awaza Fresh Up Construction Leaflet] (PDF). Hanshin Expressway (in Japanese). 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
12. "3月19日（火）「尼崎ＰＡ」「南芦屋浜ＰＡ」を新たに同時オープンします" [Amagasaki and Minami-Ashiyahama parking areas to open on 19 March] (PDF). Hanshin Expressway (in Japanese). 21 February 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2020.

External links

• Media related to Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route at Wikimedia Commons