National Route 114 (国道114号, Kokudō Hyaku jūyongō) is a national highway of Japan that traverses the prefecture of Fukushima in a northwest–southeast routing. It connects the prefecture's capital city, Fukushima in north-central Fukushima Prefecture to the town of Namie on the prefecture's eastern coast. It has a total length of 69.0 kilometers (42.9 mi). A section of the highway was closed following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, but it has since been reopened.
Route description
National Route 114 begins at a junction with National Route 4 and National Route 115 in the Fukushima Prefecture's capital city, Fukushima in the north-central part of the prefecture. Heading east through the town of Kawamata, the route crosses over the Abukuma Highlands that divide the prefecture's central Nakadōri and eastern Hamadōri regions. Crossing into the town of Namie, the highway meets National Route 399 and shares a brief concurrency with it before National Route 399 departs to the south at junction with National Route 459. National Route 459 joins National Route 114 as a concurrent route towards central Namie. Just west of central Namie the highway meets the Jōban Expressway at Namie Interchange. In the central district of Namie, the two concurrent highways end at a junction with National Route 6. National Route 114 has a total length of 69.0 kilometers (42.9 mi).[1]
History
National Route 114 was established by the Cabinet of Japan on 18 May 1954 as Secondary National Route 114 between the city of Fukushima and the town of Namie. The highway was reclassified as General National Route 114 on 1 April 1965.[2] A straightening and widening project, called the Kotsunagi Bypass, began along the highway in the mountains of Kawamata in 2006. After nine years of construction, the project was completed on 28 June 2015.[3]
Closure within the nuclear exclusion zone
A section of the highway was closed between its eastern terminus and the Shimotsushima neighborhood of Namie following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the subsequent establishment of the 20 kilometer exclusion zone on 22 April 2011.[4] On 6 December 2014, the highway was reopened to vehicular traffic east of the Jōban Expressway in order to allow traffic from the new section of expressway to be linked to National Route 6 and the rest of the expressway further south.[5] From then until 2017, a 27-kilometer-long (17 mi) section of highway remained closed within the exclusion zone. The interchange with the Jōban Expressway was expanded on 1 March 2015 to allow access to the expressway's newly-built section between Namie and Tomioka.[6] National Route 114 was fully reopened to vehicular traffic on 20 September 2017,[7] though some restrictions are still in place in terms of where the highway can be exited.[8]
^ ab"一般国道の路線別、都道府県別道路現況" [Road statistics by General National Highway route and prefecture] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
^一般国道の路線を指定する政令 [Cabinet Order Designating General National Routes] (in Japanese). Cabinet of Japan. 1965. Retrieved 22 December 2020 – via Wikisource.
^"国道114号小綱木バイパス2工区が完成します。" [National Route 114 Kotsunagi Bypass second construction zone will be completed.] (PDF) (in Japanese). Fukushima Prefecture. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
^"常磐自動車道浪江IC以北開通に伴う帰還困難区域の特別通過交通制度におけるルートの追加について" [Regarding the addition of routes in the special transit transportation system for difficult-to-return areas due to the opening of the Jōban Expressway north of Namie Interchange] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^"復興加速へ 国道114号が20日再開通" [To accelerate rebuilding, National Route 114 will reopen on the 20th]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). 16 September 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
^"国道114号(津島ゲート~浪江IC間)の通行止め解除のお知らせ" [Notice of lifting of the road closure on National Route 114 (between Tsushima Gate and Namie Interchane)]. Town of Kawamata. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2020.