The first section was opened in 1972 by Japan Highway Public Corporation and construction proceeded in stages until the entire route was completed in 1988.[3] On October 1, 2005, all national expressways were privatized[4] and management of the Hokuriku Expressway was divided between the East and Central Nippon Expressway Companies.[5]
Although the route officially originates in Niigata and terminates at Maibara, exit numbers and kilometer markings originate from Maibara.
Features
Around Tsuruga Interchange, the south-bound lanes cross over the north-bound lanes and diverges drastically. The expressway rejoins normally at a point near Suizu Parking Area.
There are 14 tunnels between Kinomoto Interchange and Takefu Interchange (two of which are longer than 2,000 m (6,600 ft)), and 26 tunnels between Asahi Interchange and Jōetsu Interchange (eight of which are longer than 2,000 m (6,600 ft)).
List of interchanges and features
This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table. Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one. Please improve this article if you can.(November 2021)
^Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Kinki Regional Development Bureau. "Road Timetable" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Hokuriku Regional Development Bureau. "Oyashirazu Pia Park Profile" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
