The speed limit for a section of the Shin-Tomei Expressway will be raised to 120 kph from Dec. 22, the Shizuoka prefectural police have announced. The change will take effect at 2 p.m. on the day.
In July, the National Police Agency decided to gradually raise the speed limit to 120 kph on five candidate sections of four expressways, including this section, which covers about 145 kilometers between the Gotemba Junction and the Hamamatsu-Inasa Junction, both in Shizuoka Prefecture.
A 120 kph speed limit was implemented on a trial basis on an approximatley 50-kilometer stretch of the same section, between the Shin-Shizuoka Interchange and the Mori-Kakegawa Interchange, from March 2019 to February this year, and no fatal accidents occurred.
In preparation for full-scale operation of the new speed limit, six lanes -- three in each direction -- have been constructed, and the prefectural police are working on putting up signs.
An expressway section in Iwate Prefecture between the Morioka-minami Interchange and the Hanamaki-minami Interchange on the Tohoku Expressway began full operation of a 120 kph speed limit from Sept. 16, after a trial period.
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