Headed straight for progress

摘要

To get from Kanagawa to Chiba prefecture, Japanese drivers had to cope with a 100-kilometer journey around the perimeter of Tokyo Bay - a trip that could take hours. How to shorten the distance? A straight line, naturally. The Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line opened to traffic late last year. This 15-kilometer highway cuts right across the bay, with about a third of the distance covered by bridge, and the remainder by undersea tunnel. The latter portion of the route is, in fact, the world's longest automobile-only tunnel.