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The 7.3 km stretch between Kesennuma port and the Karakuwa IC peninsula opened on the 6th, connecting the entire Sanriku Coastal Highway in Miyagi Prefecture. There are a total of 10 ICs in the city of Kesennuma, and 8 of them are “half way”, where going up and down is limited to one direction. ICs that are not easy to use are likely to cause confusion for tourists.
The directions in which you can enter and exit the IC in the city of Kesennuma are as shown in the figure. There are two unrestricted “full methods” of getting on and off, in the center of Kesennuma and on the Oya coast, and the three ICs in the opening section on day 6 are restricted in traffic.
The half method has reduced construction costs and has been widely adopted on the Metropolitan Expressway. In addition to the cost-cutting effect, it seems that it was difficult to secure land on the Rías coast.
There are a total of 32 ICs on the Sanriku Coastal Highway in the prefecture, of which 10 are medium. Most of them are concentrated in Kesennuma, so they are very likely to disturb unknown tourists.
The Urashima Oshima IC, which is the closest to Oshima, the location of the NHK TV series “Okaeri Monet,” can only enter and exit the Sendai area. Cars coming from the direction of Iwate cannot get off and cars heading to Iwate cannot enter.
Tourists from Iwate get off at Kesennuma Shishiori IC on the north side and head to the island via the prefectural highway. If you make a mistake at the exit, you will not be able to get off at Kesennuma Chuo IC because the Kesennuma port IC is limited to getting on and off in the direction of Sendai.
The Karakuwa Peninsula IC is a “room system” where the entrance and the exit are separated through a tunnel. It is even more complicated.
The Karakuwa Peninsula has the Kesennuma / Karakuwa course (10 km) at Miyagi Olle, where hiking enthusiasts flock from within and outside the prefecture.
Tadafumi Mikami (69), Chairman of the Karakuwa City Tourism Association, said: “It is difficult for local residents to understand, but I am concerned if I can explain it well when I receive an inquiry from out of town.”
The city has created an illustrative map that clearly shows the direction in which the IC can enter and exit, and has started to distribute it in the tourist facilities of the city. A head of the Tourism Division said: “We will consider measures to avoid confusion, such as creating a model course for city tours that considers the medium method.”
