Yamate Tunnel

Plans for an expressway on the route were first drawn up around 1970, initially in the form of an elevated expressway over the Meguro River between Shibuya and Oimachi. The elevated expressway plan was shelved shortly after, following concerns about environmental issues and local resident protests, but re-emerged in the 1990s in the form of a tunnel plan. The final plan for the southern portion of the tunnel, approved in 2004, followed Yamate Street and the Meguro River, in order to minimize tunneling under private property.{{Cite web|title=首都高「山手トンネル」の誕生秘話。なぜ中央環状品川線開通まで50年もかかったのか？|trans-title=The story behind the birth of the Shuto Expressway's "Yamate Tunnel". Why did it take 50 years for the Central Circular Route to open?|url=http://bestcarweb.jp/archives/15391|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322014344/http://bestcarweb.jp/archives/15391|language=ja|website=bestcarweb.jp|date=9 November 2020|archive-date=22 March 2017|access-date=17 September 2020}}

Construction on the Yamate Tunnel began in 1992. The Takamatsu–Nishi Shinjuku segment opened on 22 December 2007. On the same date, an above-ground segment linking the tunnel to the Kumanochō Interchange in Itabashi and Toshima opened. The {{convert|9.4|km|mi|adj=on|sp=us}} section between Nishi Shinjuku and Ohashi opened on 28 March 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://radiate.jp/20100307/tunnelwalk_2010/|title=首都高速道路 中央環状新宿線（山手トンネル・大橋JCT） 新宿〜渋谷 山手トンネルウォーク {{!}} ラジエイト|trans-title=Shuto Expressway Central Circular Route (Yamate Tunnel / Ohashi Junction) Shinjuku-Shibuya Yamate Tunnel Walk|website=radiate.jp|language=ja|date=7 March 2010|access-date=21 March 2017}} The last section linking Ohashi to the Bayshore Route opened on 7 March 2015.

File:キケン はいってはいけません (16681346685).jpg

The tunnel has many operational and safety facilities. Among them are emergency telephones and cameras at {{convert|100|m|ft|adj=on|sp=us}} intervals. Fire-safety equipment includes infrared sensors, fire extinguishers, foam sprayers, and pushbutton alarms.

Emergency exits leading to a separate emergency path are located no more than {{convert|350|m|ft|sp=us}} apart. Stairways lead up to Yamate Street. A duct running parallel to the roadway supplies fresh air and removes exhaust. Dust-collection systems are designed to remove 80 percent of particulates from the air.

The Ohashi Junction in Meguro, connecting the tunnel to the Shibuya Route, required construction of stacked elliptical ramps {{convert|400|m|ft|sp=us}} in circumference and {{convert|175|m|ft|sp=us}} in diameter, similar in size to the National Stadium track. For soundproofing reasons, the junction was encased in over {{convert|120000|m3|cuyd|sp=us}} of concrete. The structure was used as the centerpiece of an urban planning project that includes the Meguro Sky Garden park and several high-rise condominium towers.{{cite news|title=首都高に巨大天空庭園 「迷惑施設」生かす街づくり|trans-title=Huge sky garden on the Shuto Expressway. "NIMBY facility" To be used in urban planning project|url=http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK1701R_X10C13A1000000/|newspaper=The Nikkei|language=ja|date=22 January 2013|access-date=21 March 2017}}

File:Ohashi Junction 20130506 002.jpg.]]

{{JPNinttop|exit|name|nopref=yes}}

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|notes= Southbound exit and northbound entrance; to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

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{{jctbtm|exit|keys=closed,incomplete|trans}}

The Yamate Tunnel passes above the Yūrakuchō and Ōedo subway lines. It crosses below the Tōzai and Marunouchi subway lines, as well as the Keiō and Keiō New Lines and the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line. The tunnel runs parallel to the Ōedo Line, along a segment between Nakai and Nishi Shinjuku Gochome Stations. Nakai and Nakano Sakaue Stations, lying beneath the Yamate Tunnel, have escalators that pass between Yamate's two tunnels.

• 西澤丞著『首都高山手トンネル』求龍堂（2007年） {{ISBN|978-4-7630-0725-4}}

{{reflist}}

• Gotthard Base Tunnel
• {{ill|Sapaesan Tunnel|ko|사패산터널}}

Category:Shuto Expressway

Category:Road tunnels in Japan

Category:Tunnels completed in 2007

Category:Transport buildings and structures in Tokyo