Status of the Arita-Kainan Road and Kainan Sakasu area as of March 23, 2025
This is a follow-up to the blog posts from October 13-14, 2023, regarding the status of the roadside station "Kainan Sakasu" along the (planned) Arita-Kainan Road (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4).
The northern half of the Arita-Kainan Road (north of the Kainan Sakasu roadside station on National Route 42) is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025, along with the adjacent northern section, the "Shimizu Widening." However, the specific opening date has not been announced as of the time this blog post was written.
A pre-opening event was held at Kainan Sakasu on March 1, 2025.
https://www.kkr.mlit.go.jp/wakayama/news/press/20250218.pdf
Information regarding the overall progress of the Arita-Kainan Road and Shimizu Widening is being updated regularly on the dedicated page on the Wakayama River and National Highway Office official website (URL changed in March 2024 due to site renewal).
The progress status as of February 2025 can be found here
While the area north of Kainan Sakasu is in final preparations for opening, the No. 4 Tunnel (approx. 100m) and the No. 3 Tunnel (approx. 1700m) just to the south remain completely untouched, meaning the full opening of the entire line is still a long way off.
With that said, I will report on the status of the area around Kainan Sakasu as of March 23, 2025.
1. Between Kominami Intersection and the temporary terminus of the Arita-Kainan Road
Once the Arita-Kainan Road is partially opened, the relevant section of Wakayama Prefectural Road 166 (Okikamosato Station Line) will become an important arterial road connecting the National Route 42 bypass with the existing road. A prominent guide sign has already been installed before the temporary terminus, with the unopened section currently covered up. Although, the "Tanabe Arita" side will likely remain covered for the time being.
By the way, if you drive along Prefectural Road 166 for nearly 4km, you will reach the Shimotsu IC of the Hanwa Expressway, but it is completely ignored, perhaps because the location is too inconvenient.
The contrast between the long-completed No. 5 Bridge and the planned site for the No. 4 Tunnel entrance beyond it is quite striking.
A prominent guide sign has also been installed on the opposite side of the temporary terminus on Prefectural Road 166. This one only has the Kainan/Wakayama direction covered, while the Arita direction, for which there is no prospect of opening for the time being, is not shown at all.
Traffic lights have already been installed at the intersection at the temporary terminus. Although it is a flat intersection, pedestrians, bicycles, and light vehicles are completely prohibited from passing and are directed to a passage underneath.
From the edge of the Kainan Sakasu parking lot, I was barely able to see the state of that intersection. The No. 5 Bridge on the south side can only be used by construction vehicles for the time being.
2. Just north of the temporary terminus of the Arita-Kainan Road
Not only the pavement and lanes, but also the guide signs have already been installed.
3. Kainan Sakasu
The entrance/exit facing National Route 42, which was blocked as of October 2023, was opened on March 18, 2024, without waiting for the Arita-Kainan Road to begin service.
https://www.city.kainan.lg.jp/kakubusho/machizukuribu/norinsuisangakari/michinoeki/6150.html
Only left-turn entry and left-turn exit are permitted; you cannot enter or exit from the northbound lane of National Route 42.
Incidentally, the Street View for this section of National Route 42 jumps from March 2023 (before the opening of Kainan Saquas) to September 2024, so the situation described in this blog post—where the roadside station had opened but the entrance/exit facing National Route 42 was permanently closed—was never recorded.