TOKYO - After 77 years, Tokyo is set to return blue skies to Nihonbashi as the city buries its expressways underground and reimagines its historic heart.
The Yaesu Tunnel, normally busy with around 100,000 vehicles passing through daily, was completely empty during a media tour on Friday, marking the beginning of a major transformation.
The tunnel section shown to the media had been closed earlier this month on April 5th. A new construction project will partially relocate about 1.8 kilometers of the Yaesu Line, from Kandabashi Junction to Edobashi Junction, underground. The Metropolitan Expressway, which has been in operation for more than 60 years, faces urgent needs for aging infrastructure repairs. As part of a broader renovation effort, the Tokyo Expressway's KK Line—an iconic route—has also been permanently closed, drawing a curtain on its long history.
The newly built underground tunnel is scheduled to reopen in fiscal 2035. This shift underground will not only update the aging network but also dramatically change the face of Tokyo above ground. In particular, the elevated expressway running over Nihonbashi is planned for removal by fiscal 2040, restoring the open sky to the historic bridge.
Computer-generated images of the completed project show the elevated highway, once covering the Nihonbashi River, being dismantled, creating a more open and expansive urban atmosphere. With the elevated structure gone, residents and visitors will once again be able to look up and see the sky over Nihonbashi for the first time in 77 years.
Source: FNN
