Inner Circular Route

Shuto Expressway Inner Circular Route 首都高速都心環状線
The Inner Circular Route highlighted in red
Route information
Part of AH1
Maintained by Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited
Length	14.8 km (9.2 mi)
Existed	1962–present
Major junctions
Beltway around Tokyo
Major intersections	Ueno Route Mukojima Route Tokyo Expressway Yaesu Route Haneda Route Meguro Route Shibuya Route Shinjuku Route Ikebukuro Route
Location
Country	Japan
Highway system
National highways of Japan Expressways of Japan

The Inner Circular Route (都心環状線, Toshin Kanjō-sen), signed as Route C1, is one of the routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the central part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The route is a complete loop around the central Tokyo wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, with a total length of 14.8 kilometers (9.2 mi). In addition to serving areas of central Tokyo, the Inner Circular Route also serves as the origin of the radial routes of the Shuto Expressway. A section of the expressway is built above the Shibuya River.

History

The expressway was built between 1962 and 1967, partly in preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics. In 2009, Tokyo private industries proposed funding a project to dismantle the elevated expressway and put them underground.[1]

In May 2020, the Shuto Expressway Company received approval for plans to relocate 1.8 kilometers of the expressway underground between Kandabashi and Edobashi Junctions, in the area surrounding Nihonbashi Bridge as part of larger project to redevelop the financial district.[2] Construction commenced with the permanent closure of the Edobashi and Gofukubashi entrance and exit ramps on 10 May 2021.[3][4] Construction on the replacement tunnel is expected to be completed in 2035, making way for the removal of the bridge planned to be completed in 2040.[5]

List of interchanges

List of interchanges ordered clockwise beginning with Edobashi Junction. The entire expressway is in Tokyo.

Location	km[6]	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Chūō	0.0	0.0	—	Edobashi	Ueno Route north – Ueno   Mukojima Route north – Narita, Bayshore Route, Fukagawa Route, Tōhoku Expressway, Keiyō Road	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit; distance posts reset to zero, eastern terminus of AH1
	0.8	0.50	11	Takarachō	Yaesu-dōri	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
	1.0	0.62	—	Kyōbashi	Spur route to Tokyo Expressway	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
	1.6	0.99	12	Kyōbashi	Kajibashi-dōri – Kyōbashi, Eitaibashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	1.7– 1.9	1.1– 1.2	13/14	Shintomichō	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 50 (Shin-Ōhashi-dōri) – Shin-Ōhashi, Tsukuda, Shiodome	Exit only
	2.0– 2.5	1.2– 1.6	15/16	Ginza	Ginchū-dōri
	3.2	2.0	18	Shiodome	Kaigan-dōri – Shinbashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	3.4	2.1	—	Shiodome	Yaesu Route north – Kita-Ikebukuro, Shin-Kyōbashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
Minato	4.3	2.7	—	Hamazakibashi	Haneda Route south – Haneda, Bayshore Route, Yokohane Route, Daiba Route, Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, Higashi-Kantō Expressway
	5.2– 5.7	3.2– 3.5	19/20	Shiba-kōen	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 319 – to National Route 1, Hibiya, Roppongi, Kanasugi Bridge, Shinagawa
	6.6	4.1	—	Ichinohashi	Meguro Route south – Meguro, Togoshi
	7.2	4.5	21	Iikura	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 415 (Azabu-dōri) – Roppongi
	7.8	4.8	—	Tanimachi	Shibuya Route west – to Tōmei Expressway, Shibuya	Clockwise beginning of AH1 concurrency
Chiyoda	8.8– 9.2	5.5– 5.7	23/24	Kasumigaseki	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 415 (Roppongi-dōri) – Hibiya, Hanzōmon, Nagatachō
	10.2	6.3	—	Miyakezaka	Shinjuku Route west – to Chūō Expressway, Shinjuku
	11.6	7.2	25	Daikanchō	Uchibori-dōri – Kitanomaru Park	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
	12.0	7.5	26	Kitanomaru	Uchibori-dōri – Hitotsubashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	12.3	7.6	—	Takebashi	Ikebukuro Route north – Ōmiya, Kita-Ikebukuro
	12.9– 13.2	8.0– 8.2	28/29	Kandabashi	Hibiya-dōri – Ōtemachi
	13.3	8.3	—	Kandabashi	Yaesu Route south – Marunouchi, Shinbashi	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
Chūō	14.0	8.7	30	Gofukubashi	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 405 (Sotobori-dōri) – Tokyo Station	Closed on 10 May 2021[4] Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	14.2	8.8	31	Edobashi	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 316 (Shōwa-dōri)	Closed on 10 May 2021'[4] Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. Keisuke Okada (17 March 2012). "Push to replace Tokyo's aging expressways with tunnel routes revived". The Japan Times. p. 3. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
2. "首都高速道路日本橋区間の地下化事業の都市計画事業認可について" [The Gofukubashi and Edobashi ramps on the downtown loop line will be abolished at midnight on 10 May 2021 (Monday).] (Press release) (in Japanese). Shuto Expressway. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
3. "都心環状線 呉服橋出入口・江戸橋出入口を2021年5月10日（月）午前0時に廃止します" [The Gofukubashi and Edobashi ramps on the downtown loop line will be abolished at midnight on 10 May 2021 (Monday).] (Press release) (in Japanese). Shuto Expressway. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
4. "首都高、2021年5月10日に呉服橋・江戸橋出入口を廃止". news.yahoo.co.jp (in Japanese). Yahoo! News (Japan). 8 February 2021. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
5. Yurumazu, Emin (4 November 2021). "香港に代わる金融ハブに東京が10年内になる根拠" [Reasons why Tokyo will replace Hong Kong as the financial hub within the next decade] (in Japanese). Toyo Keizai. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
6. "Inner Circular Route" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 23 July 2020.