THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

A major artery connecting Tokyo to the coastal Tohoku region will open March 1, with the completion of the final stretch that runs past the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Local governments and tourism officials are pinning their hopes that it will facilitate recovery of the region devastated by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011, and bolster tourism.

The Joban Expressway extends for about 300 kilometers from Misato in Saitama Prefecture to Watari in Miyagi Prefecture.

The final 14.3-kilometer section connecting the Joban-Tomioka interchange with the Namie interchange, both in Fukushima Prefecture, is to open after prolonged construction delays due to the nuclear disaster that unfolded in March 2011.

However, along one stretch, running 8 km, radiation levels are high enough that residents are not permitted to return to their homes for the foreseeable future.

At one point, the expressway comes within 6 km of the Fukushima plant.

Before the calamity, the only part of the Joban Expressway that remained incomplete was a section between the Yamamoto interchange in Miyagi Prefecture and the Joban-Tomioka interchange.

It took four years to complete work on this final section, as radioactive fallout hampered construction work.

Initially, the expressway's operator, East Nippon Expressway Co., planned to fully open the expressway in fiscal 2014, but the construction delays pushed the date to summer 2015.

However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe committed his administration a year ago to ensuring the Joban Expressway would open before the coming Golden Week national holiday period starting in late April.

Describing the expressway as "the symbol of reconstruction," Abe said in March 2014, "I hope many tourists will visit the disaster-stricken areas of the Tohoku region."

Last December, government officials said Abe's goal would be pushed forward by two months, leading to the March 1 opening.

Akihiro Ota, the transport minister, said at a Feb. 27 news conference, "I expect (the opening) will lead to an acceleration of companies building facilities in the region and the promotion of tourism and exchanges between people."

Koichi Fujita, who heads the economy department in the Minami-Soma city government, said the opening of the Joban Expressway would have significant economic effect.

Organizers of the annual Soma Nomaoi equestrian festival in Minami-Soma hope the road will bring more visitors from the greater Tokyo area. The event's 2014 installment drew about 90 percent of the pre-disaster visitor level.

Pundit and writer Hiroki Azuma has proposed turning the crippled Fukushima plant into a tourist destination.

"I hope people from the Tokyo metropolitan area will exit the expressway in Fukushima and take a look at the homes near the plant that have been gated off," Azuma said. "I hope residents will use this as an opportunity to send a message to the world and pass the memory of the nuclear incident on to future generations."

As local schools avoid roads that pass through areas with high radiation levels, such institutions will not likely be using the last Fukushima stretch of the Joban Expressway--even if it reduces travel time.

The heaviest users are expected to be trucks carrying soil and debris contaminated with radiation to be stored at an interim facility under construction near the Fukushima plant.

The rerouting of such traffic is in response to concerns raised by local residents about the nature of the cargo passing close to their homes.

(This article was written by Hiroki Ito, Masakazu Honda and Seiichi Kobayashi.)