National Route 279 (国道279号, Kokudō Nihyaku nana-jukyūgō) is a national highway of Japan that traverses the prefectures of Aomori and Hokkaido, as well as the Tsugaru Strait that separates them. The 134.0-kilometer (83.3 mi) highway begins at an intersection with National Route 5 in Hakodate, then crosses the Tsugaru Strait on a ferry from Hakodate to Ōma, Aomori, that it shares with National Route 279, where it then travels south through eastern Aomori Prefecture, passing through the city of Mutsu before ending at an intersection with National Route 4 in Noheji.
National Route 279's path across Aomori follows one of the oldest roads in northern Japan, a pilgrimage path called the Tanabu Kaidō (田名部街道) to Mount Osore, a caldera believed in Japanese mythology to be a gate to the underworld.
Route description
Hakodate
National Route 279 begins at an intersection with National Route 5 in central Hakodate, east of Hakodate Station. The highway travels southwest through the city, then curves to the northwest, and turns northeast towards the former site of the city's ferry terminal, which was moved to the northwest of Hakodate Station. The highway's brief 1.8-kilometer (1.1 mi) route in Hokkaido ends at the former terminal, which has since been converted into a retail area.[2] Aside from the last 100 meters (330 ft) of the highway near the ferry terminal, the highway also carries the Main Line of the Hakodate City Tram in its median.[3]
Aomori Prefecture
National Route 279 along the coast of the Tsugaru Strait
The highway is then carried south across the Tsugaru Strait via the Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry to Ōma on the northern tip of Aomori Prefecture's Shimokita Peninsula. From the route's northern terminus in Hakodate to Ōma, National Route 338 runs concurrent with National Route 279; however, in Ōma, National Route 338 leaves the concurrency, traveling south while Route 279 heads southeast towards Mutsu. In Aomori, Route 279 is known as the Mutsu Hamanasu Line, named after the hamanasu, known in English as the Rosa rugosa, a shrub-like rose that grows on the beaches of Japan.[4][5]
In Mutsu, it intersects with the northern end of the Mutsu Bypass, an auxiliary parallel route of the highway, and routes 279 and 338 briefly meet again, sharing a short concurrency. After traveling through the central district of the city together, National Route 338 leaves National Route 279 at the southern end of the Mutsu Bypass. It continues its path southeast across the peninsula while National Route 279 heads south towards Yokohama, and eventually Noheji at the southern base of the peninsula. The highway reaches a rest area on the north shore of the Miho River in Yokohama.[6] Between Yokohama and Noheji, National Route 279 is closely paralleled by the Shimokita Expressway, a highway signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 279 that has supplanted the original route as the main thoroughfare between Yokohama and Noheji. The two highways meet at junction in southern Yokohama, where the original route continues south along Mutsu Bay while the expressway takes a more inland route through the village of Rokkasho. Upon entering Noheji, the route travels southwest through sparsely populated coastal woodlands before entering the central part of the town where it curves to the south. After passing by the town hall, the route terminates at an intersection with National Route 4.[7]
Average daily traffic
National Route 279 is maintained by the Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which conducts surveys on the Japan's national routes and expressways every five years to measure their average daily traffic. In 2015, the most utilized point along the route, was at the junction between it and Aomori Route 7 in Mutsu, where a daily average of 9,440 vehicles traveled on National Route 279. The least busy section of the highway was between the ferry terminal at Ōma and the intersection where the highway meets National Route 338, it carried an average of only 1,337 vehicles.[8]
History
National Route 279 near the old ferry terminal in Hakodate
National Route 279 was preceded by the Tanabu-kaidō (田名部街道), a road established by the Nanbu clan during the Edo period as a branch of the longer Ōshū Kaidō (now known as National Route 4). It traveled between Noheji-shukuba and the Buddhist temple and folk religion pilgrimage destination of Mount Osore, believed to be a mystical gate to the underworld in both Ainu mythology and Japanese Buddhism,[9] near the former town of Tanabu (now part of Mutsu). The road appears on maps as early as 1647, and by 1699 it was labeled as the Tanabu-kaidō on a map produced by the Nanbu. Pilgrimages along the Tanabu-kaidō to Mount Osore date back to 862, but it is uncertain if the establishment of a maintained road took place before the Nanbu built it.[10]
National Route 279 was established by the Cabinet of Japan in 1970 along the Tanabu-kaidō between Noheji and Ōma, the ferry linking Ōma and Hakodate, and the short section in Hakodate.[11][12] Since its designation, bypasses of the original route have been built, these include the incomplete, limited-accessShimokita Expressway between Noheji and Yokohama, as well as the Nimaibashi Bypass in Mutsu.[13]
Incidents and closures
On 1 February 2012, a blizzard trapped 329 people on the highway in Aomori Prefecture.[14] On 9 August 2021, most of a bridge over the Koaka River on the northern edge of Mutsu was washed away during Tropical Storm Lupit.[15] No people were harmed as a result of the bridge collapse; however, it cut off direct highway access to Mutsu for the residents of Ōma and Kazamaura until a signalized one-lane bridge was built on 20 June 2022 to the south of the original to partially restore the connection.[16][17]
The Shimokita Expressway is an incomplete two-lane national expressway in Aomori Prefecture that is signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 279. The expressway travels south from Yokohama through the municipalities of Rokkasho and Noheji, where the main section of the expressway currently ends at an interchange with National Route 4.[20] A short expressway stub opened in Mutsu in December 2019. When completed, the expressway will stretch 68 kilometers (42 mi) from Mutsu south to the town of Shichinohe.[21]
Mutsu Bypass
The Mutsu Bypass is a 2.2-kilometer-long (1.4 mi) auxiliary route of National Route 279 in the central district of Mutsu. From its northern terminus with its parent route, it heads southeast and crosses over the Jotachi River. It has a junction with the Ōminato Bypass, an auxiliary route of National Route 338. After this junction the Mutsu Bypass travels south, paralleling the main line of National Route 279 until it reaches its southern terminus at the junction of National Routes 279 and 338.[22][23]
^"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 10 October 2019.
^平成27年度全国道路・街路交通情勢調査 一般交通量調査 箇所別基本表 [2015 Traffic Report by intersection] (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
^Chris Bamforth (22 December 2006). "Mountain of dread". The Japan Times. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
^Aomori Prefecture Folklore Museum (29 March 1986). 青森県「歴史の道」調査報告書 [Aomori Prefecture Historic Roads Survey Report] (in Japanese). Aomori Prefecture Board of Education. p. 1. JPNO000001805973. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 11 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 10 October 2019 – via Wikisource.
^"道路施設・高規格道路建設課（道路整備）" [Road Facilities and Expressway Construction Section (Road Improvement)]. Aomori Prefecture Government (in Japanese). 1 July 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
^"【動画】青森 むつ 国道279号線の橋の一部崩れる 大雨影響" [[Video] Mutsu, Aomori Part of the bridge on National Route 279 collapsed due to heavy rain]. NHK (in Japanese). 10 August 2022. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^"青森で大雨、むつで橋の一部崩落 自衛隊に派遣要請" [Heavy rain in Aomori, partial collapse of bridge at Mutsu Request for dispatch to the Self-Defense Forces]. Kahoku Shimpō (in Japanese). 10 August 2021. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^"国道279号「小赤川橋」の進捗状況について" [About the progress of National Route 279 "Koakagawa Bridge"] (in Japanese). City of Mutsu. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^"下北道むつ南バイパスが一部開通" [Partial opening of the Shimokita Mutsu South Bypass] (in Japanese). 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^"一般国道２７９号 下北半島縦貫道路「むつ南バイパス」 交通開放（開通）のお知らせ" [National Highway 279 Shimokita Peninsula Expressway "Mutsu-minami Bypass" (opening)] (PDF) (in Japanese). 29 November 2019. Archived from the original(PDF) on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
