Ban-etsu Expressway 1.91

The Ban-etsu Expressway is a national expressway in the Tōhoku region of Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.NamingThe name Ban-etsu is a kanji acronym consisting of characters found in the former names of the provinces linked by the expressway. consists of the eastern part of present-day Fukushima Prefecture, and Echigo Province consists of present-day Niigata Prefecture.Officially the expressway is referred to as the Tōhoku-Ōdan Expressway Iwaki Niigata Route.OverviewThe route of the expressway connects the coastlines of the Pacific Ocean and the Japan Sea by traversing the mountainous interior of the Tōhoku region.The expressway commences at a junction with the Jōban Expressway in Iwaki, Fukushima and follows a northwesterly course to the city of Kōriyama, where it intersects with the Tōhoku Expressway. The expressway continues its course through the historic Aizu region, with Mount Bandai viewable to the north and Lake Inawashiro viewable to the south. The route then enters Niigata Prefecture and eventually terminates at a junction in Niigata City with the Hokuriku Expressway and Nihonkai-Tōhoku Expressway.