National Route 424 (国道424号, Kokudō Yonhyaku ni-jūyongō) is a national highway located entirely within Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. It connects the cities of Tanabe and Kinokawa, spanning the western side of the prefecture in a south–north routing. The highway has a total length of 113.0 kilometers (70.2 mi).
Route description
National Route 424 is a national highway that does not leave Wakayama Prefecture. The highway connects the cities of Tanabe and Kinokawa, running south–north across the prefecture. The highway almost entirely runs through the prefecture's inland mountainous area, paralleling the coastal routing of National Route 42 and the Hanwa Expressway; however, the southernmost section of the highway between Minabe and Tanabe runs along the prefecture's west coast.[2] The highway has a total length of 113.0 kilometers (70.2 mi), excluding its auxiliary routes.[3]
History
On 1 April 1982, National Route 424 was established by the Cabinet of Japan between the city of Tanabe and the former town of Uchita which has since been merged into the city of Kinokawa.[4] In 1996 a project began to widen and straighten a winding one-lane section of the road along the Shuri River in Aridagawa. The realignment project was completed on 11 July 2012 with a total cost of 8.9 billion yen.[2] Another project began in 2010 in Minabe to straighten and shorten the highway. The project was significantly delayed by landslides caused by Tropical Storm Talas on 5 September 2011.[5] On 2 October 2017, the project was completed, shortening the total length of the highway by about a kilometer and a half.[5]
^"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 11 February 2020.
^ ab"国道424号 修理川バイパス(有田川町)開通" [National Route 424 Shurigawa Bypass (Aridagawa Town) opened] (in Japanese). Kii Minpō. 25 July 2012. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
^一般国道の路線を指定する政令の一部を改正する政令 [Cabinet Order to revise a part of the Cabinet Order Designating General National Routes] (in Japanese). Cabinet of Japan. 30 April 1981. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
^ ab"国道424号【清川き よ か わ工区】の開通について" [About the opening of National Route 424 [Kiyokawa Construction Zone]] (PDF) (in Japanese). Wakayama Prefecture. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2021.