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The 7.3 km section between Kesennuma Port and the Karakuwa Peninsula Interchange (IC), including the bridge across Kesennuma Bay (total length 1,344 meters), opened on the 6th on the coastal highway of Sanriku that the government is developing as a reconstruction highway for the Great East Japan Earthquake. The entire Sanriku Highway in Miyagi Prefecture was opened, and Sendai City and Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture were directly connected by a highway.
The opening ceremony was held at the crossing bridge and was attended by about 130 interested people, including Yoshihiro Murai, Governor of Miyagi Prefecture, and Shigeru Sugawara, Mayor of Kesennuma.
Governor Murai said: “It will contribute greatly to the promotion of local industries such as the fishing industry, the expansion of the exchange population and reconstruction.” Mayor Sugawara mentioned the bridge’s nickname “Kanae Ohashi” and emphasized that “I hope this bridge will be used to fulfill all the wishes of local residents and disaster-affected areas along the railway line.”
After celebrating with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and separation from Kusudama, the people involved started driving. After the ceremony, the general vehicles began to pass at 3:30 pm.
The total cost of the 9.0 km project, including the Kesennuma Chuo-Kesennuma IC Port, which opened in February 2020, is 136.5 billion yen. The 260km interchange between Sendai Kohoku and Tanohata Minami (Miyako City) IC takes about 3.5 hours from Sendai City to Miyako City. It will be shortened by about 2 hours compared to before the earthquake.
The length of the sea part of the crossing bridge is 680 meters. It is the longest cable-stayed bridge in Tohoku, surpassing the Aomori Bay Bridge in Aomori City, as a cable-stayed bridge that supports the road with a steel cable extending from the main tower with a height of 115 meters.
The government has placed 359 km between Sendai Kohoku IC and Hachinohe Junction as a reconstruction road, aiming to open the entire line by the end of fiscal year 2008, but the section opened by the sixth is 312 km. On the 20th of this month, 16 km will be connected between Samuraihama and Hirono Taneichi IC in Iwate prefecture, and 328 km (91%) will be passable by the end of this year.
The opening of 3 sections in Iwate prefecture, such as Fudai-Noda IC (provisional name) (13.0 km), will be delayed in FY 2009 due to delays in tunnel excavation.
