The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has released the latest estimates of the parts of the expressway that will need to be repaired due to aging, and the cost of repairs for a total length of 6,710 kilometers, totaling 8.3 trillion yen. The breakdown by expressway company is ▽ Three expressway companies in East Japan, Central Japan, and West Japan = about 6,500 km, about 6 trillion yen ▽ Metropolitan Expressway Company = about 120 km, about 1.3 trillion yen ▽ Hanshin Expressway Company = About 90 km, about 1 trillion yen. In addition to the already announced renovation plan (about 544 kilometers in total, about 1.5 trillion yen), we have added a total of 6,170 kilometers and 6.8 trillion yen for projects that will be necessary by 2115.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Tetsuo Saito reported the latest results at the House of Representatives Committee on Public Affairs on the 5th. The meeting was held in conjunction with deliberations on the Road Development Special Measures Law (Special Measures Law) and the Japan Expressway Ownership and Debt Repayment Agency (Expressway Agency) Act, both of which the ministry submitted to the current Diet session.
The revised bill extended the toll collection period from 1965 to September 30, 2115, by 50 years, in order to secure financial resources to stably and systematically promote aging measures and maintenance of expressways. Therefore, a trial calculation was made of the scale of the renewal project that will be required within the new toll collection period. Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Saito explained that the extension of the toll collection period was due to the fact that it would be difficult to ask for an increase in expressway tolls and a new tax burden.
Looking at the breakdown of the newly added trial calculation results, excluding the already announced plan, the three expressway companies combined total about 6,000 kilometers, or about 5 trillion yen. It is based on the assumption that the maximum amount of pavement for which the mechanism leading to deterioration has not been fully clarified is included.
About 100 kilometers for the Metropolitan Expressway Company, about 1 trillion yen. The Hanshin Expressway Co., Ltd. is about 70 kilometers long and costs about 800 billion yen.
The revised bill passed the House of Representatives on June 6 and was sent to the House of Councillors. It seems almost certain that the bill will be enacted in the current session of the Diet.
