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© 2017 AFPJapan's 'highway doctor' does check-up on aging roads
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© 2017 AFP
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BertieWooster
Two things needed:
Roundabouts to speed up the traffic flow.
An address system in line with the rest of the planet with street names and house numbers.ClippetyClop
@Bertie Roundabouts would be absolute carnage in Japan! It would take a generation for drivers to get used to them. They actually tried the street name thing in my neighbourhood. Gave the streets pretty names like 'Aka-Fuji Street', or 'Sakura Street'. They are universally ignored, people still just bumble on with the current imprecise system.
papigiulio
This!!!! So much! Yes it would take time to adjust but it would easy traffic congestion. I believe one city in Japan is already trying to implement roundabouts, forgot where it was.
The only problem with roundabouts is, pedestrian crossing. No traffic light means no car would stop. Not that they stop now, but still....
Dan Lewis
A shortage of workers? Maybe overall, but not in the road-work business! Have you seen these guys just standing around, guarding a couple of orange cones?? My favorite is the guy with the flag who forgets why he's there and stares off into the distance.
chugmagaga
@BertieWooster
According to an experiment done in MythBusters roundabouts help but the advantage is not significant. I know it is not a scientific proof but I think the amount of space it would take to build large roundabouts does not exist in Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan.
The addressing system in Japan is good enough. The system with street names is also very confusing at times. Now adays with modern navigation tools like google maps etc. we don't need to update anything.
Goodlucktoyou
roundabouts would only work on main arterial routes. not on small roads as nobody would stop. lots of people ride bicycles so it would be a little dangerous. while driving in australia, they worked really well. a recently new city in england also uses them, and it works well.
ClippetyClop
I disagree a little. I think the problem is that everybody would stop! It would be gridlock, people would be nodding at each other behind their windscreens, saying 'Dozo'. Might be a different story in the city I suppose.
smithinjapan
I can just see people thinking this is cute, when it's a pork-barrel scam.
bosphorus
What Japan needs is decentralization, moving jobs to smaller towns and other prefectures which already have a decent and adequate road network in place. This will significantly decrease the pressure on Tokyo urban infrastructure, bringing additional benefits of cheaper housing and living costs. Tokyo is already overpopulated and trying to squeeze even more people into its boundaries is not a very good idea.
wanderlust
Good sense for highway authority to copy the JR Doctor Yellow model, running a diagnostic car down the highways.
Brian Wheway
Even if they find problems with some of the roads what can they do about it? the O Games are just around the corner in a few years, combined with the lack of labour and cash, will it get done in time anyway?
pacint
Great idea, other countries take notes.
Roads in Japan and Europe are usually well-kept, mine only collects toll on mountain roads something that Japan should learn.
Goodlucktoyou
japanese have no forward thinking. they build roads without realising that as cities become more expensive and crowded, young families have to move a little out. hense so many one lane highways and bypasses. also old people tend to drive slow, and when driverless car come, traffic jams will be massive you are best to buy a scooter.
Disillusioned
All of the older highways in the greater Tokyo region including, Chiba, Ibaraki, Kanagawa and Saitama are in a very poor state. In some sections, the expansion plates are sticking up 5cm or more causing cars to bounce when they hit them. Then, there are the huge divots in the lanes created by severely overloaded trucks. I had a K-wagon five years ago and between the expansion plates and the divots it was extremely dangerous driving the highways at 60kph. This is why the speed limits are so low on the highways (60-80kph). The roads are dangerous! The Higashi-Kanto highway heading up to Ibaraki and the Tome highway heading to Osaka are as rough as flipping goats tracks! And, the Tome is very narrow with fleets of 5-10 ton trucks zooming past you at 120-140kph. It's downright scary!
The amount of work needed to bring these highways up to a safe standard is huge. It will take decades and cost copious amounts of money. They have done the same as they do with schools. They just build them, don't maintain them and just fix what is broken (eventually).
Brian Wheway
If you think the Japanese roads are bad you want to come to the UK its a major problem! the pot holes have been patched, now the patches are being patched and they are being patched as well, both governments have avoided this issue for years, and each government blames the other one (typical) the surface is breaking up on most of the side streets and roads near me, the whole of one road is a patchwork quilt of tarmac, its a bodge from start to finish, i have a truck which has firm suspension and driving on these roads just rattles all of you fillings in your head, its appalling the state of roads in the UK, there are a lot of claims to local highways dept for damage to tyres and wheels that are damaged buy these huge pot holes in the road, it cheaper to pay out on the insurance than it is to get the road in good order!!