The Transport Ministry is sounding out local governments invested in the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority about investing for 10 more years, which would use 800 billion yen more in local taxpayer money to keep the loss-making facility afloat, ministry officials said Monday.
The authority operates three bridges and toll roads linking the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku. But the volume of traffic on the toll roads has reached only about 70 percent of estimates, which is too low to even pay the interest on its loans.
The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry's initial loan-redemption plan for the ailing public corporation envisioned the central government and 10 local governments investing a combined 80 billion yen a year between the current fiscal year to fiscal 2012.