NEXCO EAST Tohoku Regional Head Office (Sendai Aoba-ku, Regional Head Office length: Kumagai, Kazuo), the established the "winter traffic ensure emergency headquarters" to record heavy snow of this winter on January 6, 2006, Expressway safety We have taken steps to ensure smooth traffic, but we will inform you about the situation.

• << snowfall situation of this winter >>
• 《Closing situation》
• 《Accident occurrence and traffic closure》
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Snowfall situation this winter

1. 17 major locations in Expressway in the Tohoku region this winter The average amount of snowfall is 7.6m, 1.2 times the normal value. This is much more than in the H16 fiscal year when there was a lot of snow.
It was a record heavy snowfall As of the end of December, it was 3.2m, 2.3 times the normal value of 1.4m. have become.
The most snowfall was 24.7m at Yamagata Expressway Gassan IC have become.

Closure status

2. "2006 heavy snowfall" and named large snow, NEXCO Northeast Regional Head Office Although we make every effort to ensure the traffic as those Regional Head Office are open Expressway in, etc. Closure amount due to snow*1 is approximately 93,000 km·hr ^*2 Has become the highest in the last 10 years.

• 1: The amount of road closure is an index that indicates the degree of road closure obtained by multiplying the extension of road closure by time.
• 2: The closure amount of approximately 93,000 km·hr corresponds to the situation where the roads within the Tohoku Regional Head Office are closed for about one and a half days. (⇒ Reference materials [PDF:112KB])

Accidents and road closures

3. As a cause of traffic closure About half (49%) are closed due to traffic accidents Has become.

• In the comparison of the number of traffic accidents that occurred in 2005 About twice as many occurrences in winter (November to March) as in non-winter (April to October) Has become. (Source: Tohoku Regional Head Office)
• Of the road closures due to snow, About half (49%) of the traffic closures occurred within 2 hours after the accident. Has become.

• Especially in the early winter and the end of winter, there are accidents caused by cars without winter tires, and the roads are closed. Looking at the tire type of the accident vehicle on the snow road on March 21 (Tue), 30 (Thurs) and 31 (Fri), the tire type was found. 11 out of 39 are related to vehicles without winter tires It was an accident.

Efforts to secure winter traffic

Four. "Tohoku Regional Head Office winter traffic ensure emergency headquarters (General Manager: Regional Head Office length)" installed the first time in five years since FY 2000 A record-breaking "We responded to the heavy snow in 2006.

• From December to the end of February The total length of work such as snow removal was 860,000 km, and it was in full operation 24 hours a day have become.
• Based on weather forecast Prior dispatch of snowplows to heavy snow areas I took measures such as doing.
• Due to the abnormally low temperature in December, a frost heave phenomenon that caused the road surface to rise was generated, and about 190 locations were urgently repaired.

Response for next winter

5. At NEXCO EAST Tohoku Regional Head Office, Implementation of visibility obstacle countermeasures by installing snow fences And highway information terminal ^*3 , Through the homepage Expanded provision of information on snowy roads such as weather and road surface, heated western toilets for all rest facilities We will implement various measures such as.

• 3: A highway information terminal is an information terminal installed mainly in a manned rest facility in the jurisdiction, where customers can freely select and check information such as road traffic information that they want to know ``request type and road ahead There are two types of "broadcast type" that automatically switch traffic information. (⇒ Reference materials [PDF:112KB] )

• Highway information terminal Is one of the rest areas 36 places We are maintaining (by top and bottom), and by the end of 2010 Addition of 14 locations intend to do something.
• NEXCO EAST Tohoku Regional Head Office website "We provide weather and road surface prediction information and use about 30,000 cases/month. had. We plan to provide information from November 2006 as well.

○ Tohoku area Expressway snow road information
From December 2005 to March 2018, we provided snow road information on the NEXCO EAST website.

• By the winter of 2006, NEXCO EAST Tohoku Regional Head Office Western restrooms have heated toilet seats at all rest facilities Will be.

Request from Tohoku Regional Head Office East Japan Expressway Co., Ltd.

6. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to passengers using the Expressway due to road closures and freezing on this winter. NEXCO EAST Tohoku Regional Head Office will continue to aim for an even more snow-resistant Expressway. We ask for your continued cooperation regarding safe driving on snowy roads.

• In the Tohoku region, the chain may be restricted due to snowfall even after the beginning of May, so please check the weather information and road traffic information before using.
• Expressway in the Tohoku region celebrates Golden Week, and it is a season when traffic is very heavy for sightseeing. Please use the traffic congestion prediction information etc. and drive safely with a reasonable driving plan.

Reference material

About the situation of snowfall others [PDF: 112KB]