Akita Expressway


The Akita Expressway is a national expressway in the Tōhoku region of Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. The Akita Expressway is numbered E7 between Kosaka and Kitakami Junctions and E46 between Kitakami and Kawabe Junctions under the MLIT's "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering."

Overview

The expressway begins at a junction with the Tōhoku Expressway in Iwate Prefecture and crosses into Akita Prefecture to the west. The route intersects the Yuzawa-Yokote Road in Yokote and the Nihonkai-Tōhoku Expressway in the Akita city area. From this junction, the route follows a northerly course parallel to the Japan Sea to its terminus with National Route 7 in Noshiro.
The entire route is signed as the Akita Expressway for consistency purposes, however two separate sections of the route are officially designated as the Akita Sotokanjō Expressway and Kotooka Noshiro Road. These sections are not classified as national expressways but rather as National highways of Japan.
The route of the expressway is planned to eventually continue past the current terminus at Futatsui-Shirakami Interchange as the Nihonkai Engan Tōhoku Expressway towards a junction with the Tōhoku Expressway near Aomori Prefecture, however it is unknown if the naming of the sections that are currently open will change upon completion of that expressway.
The section between Hachiryū Interchange and Futatsui-Shirakami Interchange, and Ōdate-Noshiro Airport Interchange and Ōdate-kita Interchange are toll-free; all other sections assess tolls based on distance travelled in the same manner as most other national expressways.

Official designations