Restore the former scenery incurring as few costs as possible: Wisdom should be exercised for this purpose.
The general outlines of the project to move the section of a metropolitan expressway that runs over the landmark Nihonbashi bridge in central Tokyo underground have been compiled. The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, the Tokyo metropolitan government, the Metropolitan Expressway Co. and other entities have reached a broad agreement on the project.
Under the plan, an about 1.2-kilometer-long elevated section running in the vicinity of the bridge will be turned into a section running through an underground tunnel. The elevated section that stretches over the bridge will be removed. With the construction work to start after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is expected to take 10 to 20 years to complete.
During the Edo period (1603-1867), Nihonbashi bridge was thronged with people, the starting point of the nation's five major highways, including the Tokaido.
The present stone-built arch bridge was completed in 1911 and was designated as a national important cultural asset.
When the bridge is restored to its former situation under a blue sky, it will become a symbol of Tokyo, which aims at becoming an international tourist city.
The present metropolitan expressways were constructed mainly over rivers so as to save time and effort needed for the troublesome task of purchasing land. It was a desperate measure taken to get the expressways ready for the previous Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
It is understandable that local business circles have called for having the elevated section removed, on the grounds that the sight of the bridge has been extremely spoiled.
The total construction costs are estimated to total 320 billion yen. Of the total, the Metropolitan Expressway Co. will bear the cost of 240 billion yen. The remaining 80 billion yen will be borne by the Tokyo metropolitan government and private companies and the like, which will undertake a redevelopment project in the surrounding area.
Consider viable alternatives
The project costs were initially projected to be between 400 billion yen and 500 billion yen. The costs were later cut down by making a diverted use of existing tunnels of other expressways, for instance, but the amounts remain sizable.
A cause for concern is that the construction work is expected to be difficult. With such infrastructure facilities as subways and water supply and sewerage systems and others interacting complexly, it is necessary to bore a tunnel that will thread its way through them.
Also under study is an idea of temporarily shifting the current of a river in the district so as to carry out the construction work smoothly.
Should the work encounter rough going, it would be inevitable for the construction period to be extended and the costs to be increased.
Also feared are traffic congestion, impediments to business activities and so on in the areas that surround the work. Possible impacts should be examined further.
Should such adverse impacts be deemed too serious, wouldn't an idea of having the elevated sections in the whole area removed, rather than insisting on the idea of putting them underground, be one of the viable alternatives?
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, Central Circular Routes and the Outer Ring Road (Gaikando), both of which bypass central Tokyo, have been developed. Considering such things as a forecast of traffic volume in future years, relevant decisions should be made level-headedly.
Specific economic effects to be generated by the revived scenery of Nihonbashi bridge have not been presented. The construction ministry and the metropolitan government should explain plainly the significance of having the section run underground.
In Seoul, the scenery has been improved thanks to removals of elevated roads that run over rivers. While making reference to relevant cases overseas, it will become important to draw up a blueprint for regional revitalization, centering around the rebirth of Nihonbashi.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 20, 2018)
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