Kobe Route

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.{{cite web|title=Osaka Grand Design|url=http://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/attach/16598/00106227/granddesign%20English.pdf|work=Metropolis Development Division, Department of Housing and City Development Osaka Prefectural Government|accessdate=29 March 2020}} 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.{{google maps |title=Kobe Route|url=https://www.google.co.jp/maps/dir/34.6812617,135.4890516/34.6517606,135.1241427/@34.6520406,135.1223632,18z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0|accessdate=29 March 2020}}

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.{{cite web|title=Expressway Map|url=https://hanshin-exp.co.jp/english/drive/toll-roadways/map.html|work=Hanshin Expressway Company|accessdate=16 April 2020}} 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.

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. 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.{{cite web|title=Expressway Map|url=https://www.hanshin-exp.co.jp/english/drive/toll-roadways/map.html|accessdate=26 March 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923162152/https://www.hanshin-exp.co.jp/english/drive/toll-roadways/map.html|archivedate=23 September 2017}}

File:Hanshin Expressway Nada b059.jpg.]]

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.{{cite web|title=Since 1950s-1970|url=https://hanshin-exp.co.jp/english/aboutus/outline/history/1970.html|work=Hanshin Expressway|accessdate=27 March 2020}}

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.{{cite news|author=Nicholas D. Kristof|title=QUAKE IN JAPAN: THE OVERVIEW; AT LEAST 597 ARE KILLED IN JAPANESE QUAKE; KOBE DEVASTATED AS 2,000 BUILDINGS BUCKLE|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/17/world/quake-japan-overview-least-597-are-killed-japanese-quake-kobe-devastated-2000.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 January 1995|accessdate=27 March 2020}}{{cite news|title=Earthquake devastates Kobe|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_3375000/3375733.stm|work=BBC News|date=17 January 1995|accessdate=27 March 2020}} 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.{{cite web|author1=Hamid Ghasemi|author2=Hisanori Otsuka|author3=James D. Cooper|author4=Hiroyuki Nakajima|title=Aftermath of The Kobe Earthquake|url=https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/fall-1996/aftermath-kobe-earthquake|date=1996|work=Public Roads|access-date=27 March 2020}}{{cite book|chapter=The Collapse of the Hanshin Expressway (Fukae) Bridge, Kobe 1995: Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction, Reconstruction, Seismic Isolation|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-27438-3_7|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|date=2006|doi=10.1007/3-540-27438-3_7 |accessdate=27 March 2020|title=Entwicklungen in der Bodenmechanik, Bodendynamik und Geotechnik |last1=Gazetas |first1=George |last2=Anastasopoulos |first2=Ioannis |last3=Gerolymos |first3=Nikos |last4=Mylonakis |first4=George |last5=Syngros |first5=Costis |pages=93–120 |isbn=3-540-27425-1 }}

On 18 December 2010, the Kobe Route was linked to the Kobe-Yamate Route after Minatogawa Junction was opened to traffic.{{cite web|title=History(-2000)|url=https://hanshin-exp.co.jp/english/aboutus/outline/history/2000.html|work=Hanshin Expressway|accessdate=27 March 2020}} On 31 October 2016, Amagasaki-Shūya Toll Gate was removed,{{cite web|title=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|trans-title=Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route 2016 Amagasaki Nishi-Awaza Fresh Up Construction Leaflet|url=https://www.hanshin-exp.co.jp/freshup/kobe2016/files/kouji_leaflet_2016.pdf|language=ja|work=Hanshin Expressway|date=2016|accessdate=27 March 2020}} it was replaced with a parking area that opened on 19 March 2019.{{cite web|title=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|trans-title=Amagasaki and Minami-Ashiyahama parking areas to open on 19 March|url=https://www.hanshin-exp.co.jp/company/files/190221_press.pdf|language=ja|work=Hanshin Expressway|date=21 February 2019|accessdate=27 March 2020}}

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|name=Awaza

|road=File:Hanshin Urban Expwy Sign 0001.svgFile:Hanshin Urban Expwy Sign 0016.svg Ōsakakō Route – to Loop Route

|notes=Eastern terminus

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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File:Hanshin Urban Expwy Sign 0001.svg Osaka Prefecture Route 29 – to Loop Route

|notes=Eastbound exit, westbound entrance

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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|notes=Parking area for westbound traffic; formerly a toll gate

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{{JPNint|exit|name

|location_special=Nishinomiya

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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|road={{jct|country=MEX|extra=airport}}{{jct|country=JPN|Exp|E1|dab1=M|dir1=east}} – to Osaka Airport

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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|name=Nishinomiya

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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{{JPNint|exit|name

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}}

{{JPNint|exit|name

|km=27.3

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|notes=

}}

{{JPNint|exit|name

|km=29.6

|exit=3-16

|type=incomplete

|name=Ikutagawa

|road=File:Hanshin Urban Expwy Sign 0032.svg Shin-Kobe Tunnel
{{jct|country=JPN|Route|2}}
Unnamed city streets

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{{JPNint|exit|name

|km=30.8

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|notes=

}}

{{JPNint|exit|name

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|notes=

}}

{{JPNint|exit|name

|km=36.1

|type=incomplete

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|road=File:Hanshin Urban Expwy Sign 0007.svgFile:Hanshin Urban Expwy Sign 0031.svg Kobe-Yamate Route – to Kita-Kobe Route
Unnamed city streets

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}}

{{JPNint|exit|name

|km=38.1

|type=incomplete

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|notes=Eastbound entrance, westbound exit

}}

{{JPNint|exit|name

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|type=trans

|exit=

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|notes=Western terminus of Kobe Route, expressway continues west as the Daini-Shimmei Road

}}

{{Jctbtm|exit|keys=incomplete,trans|col=8}}

• {{portal-inline|Japan}}
• {{portal-inline|Roads}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Hanshin Expressway Route 3 Kobe Route}}

{{Hanshin Expressway}}

Category:Roads in Hyōgo Prefecture

Category:Roads in Osaka Prefecture

3

Category:1966 establishments in Japan

Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1966