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Japan's highway plans in a jam

Decisions to build a network of Japanese highways have become so entangled in political deal-making they seem to ignore the public interest, analysts say.

Around two-thirds of the population are against constructing new highways, many of which are built in the countryside where usage is low, according to a recent newspaper survey.

However, 240 lawmakers from Japan's three ruling parties formed a group in July to promote building more roads.

"Road construction projects are decided essentially under the table among lawmakers, steelmakers and construction companies," said UBS Warburg's political analyst Shigenori Okazaki.

"A real problem is that in Japan, people have never had serious discussions about this. There has never been any attempt by lawmakers or taxpayers to make bureaucrats explain the reality of road projects," he said.

Four public corporations which build and manage expressways are collectively buried under ?40 trillion (US$341.9 billion) in debt, while 27 of Japan's 40 toll highways continue to accumulate massive losses and remain chronically under-used.

These grim figures were only made public by Japan Highway Public Corp last month after pressure from a new advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Undaunted, the government still plans to build 2,300km of highways, which will require ?20.6 trillion in additional investment.

"An assumption is that the roads will pay for themselves by collecting tolls. But most of them will be in areas where traffic volume is light," said Akihiko Suzuki, urban development analyst at UFJ Research Institute.

Analysts say bureaucrats use limited data to justify projects that have already got the green light from politicians and contractors.

Support from such people with vested interests keeps highway officials protected despite public disapproval of their huge spending and inefficient management, analysts said. One notorious example is the US$11-billion Tokyo Bay Aqua Line, the world's longest undersea road tunnel attached to a bridge that runs above water. The expressway, which opened in 1997, is only used by about 13,000 motorists a day, fewer than a third of an initial government estimate made to justify the project.

"The actual demand did not reach our expectations because of the prolonged recession," a spokesman from Japan Highway said.
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