Tokyo conducted a large-scale highway test Wednesday aimed at easing traffic, exactly a year before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, as it seeks to ensure the smooth passage of vehicles during the quadrennial sporting event.
While the Metropolitan Expressway flowed more smoothly than usual due to restricted inflows, traffic jams emerged on the Tomei and Tohoku expressways and a number of vehicles were seen turning around before closed gates.
Experts believe that without countermeasures, traffic congestion on expressways would double during the 2020 Olympics, between July 24 and Aug. 9, and the Paralympics, from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6, in the Tokyo metropolitan area.