Overview Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line

umihotaru



the tower of wind, 2015

at bridge–tunnel crossover point, there artificial island called umihotaru (海ほたる, umi-hotaru, literally meaning sea firefly ) rest area consisting of restaurants, shops , amusement facilities. air supplied tunnel distinctive tower in middle of tunnel, called kaze no tō (風の塔, tower of wind ), uses bay s almost-constant winds power source.

the road opened on december 18, 1997 after 23 years of planning , 9 years of construction @ cost of 1.44 trillion yen (11.2 billion usd @ time of opening).

the tokyo bay aqua-line reduced drive between chiba , kanagawa, 2 important industrial regions, 90 15 minutes, , contributed cutting travel time sea leisure area in southern part of bōsō peninsula tokyo , kanagawa. before tunnel opened, 1 had drive around 100 km along shores of tokyo bay , pass through downtown tokyo.

one goal expressed during planning of aqua-line reduce traffic through downtown tokyo, highway toll quite high, reduction in tokyo traffic has not been great expected.

many highway bus services use tokyo bay aqua-line, including lines tokyo station, yokohama station , haneda airport kisarazu, kimitsu, kamogawa, katsuura , tateyama.