The Tokyo High Court on Thursday repealed a lower court order that the national and local governments suspend expropriation of land in Akiruno, Tokyo, for a highway project.

Six landowners had sought the court order to halt the expropriation of 8,400 sq. meters of land, but presiding Judge Sueo Kito repealed the Tokyo District Court's October decision to grant it, citing the importance of building a highway loop around Tokyo.

"It would reduce traffic congestion, and some 3.7 billion yen in economic benefits can be garnered annually through the linkage of core cities," the judge said. "There is a pressing need to swiftly complete construction."

While he acknowledged that landowners would suffer both financial and emotional strain due to the project, such damage can be sufficiently offset through monetary compensation, and that the suspension of construction could have a serious effect on the public welfare.

Both Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Nobuteru Ishihara and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said they will go ahead with the project given the high court decision.

The district court's decision was a rare judicial move to suspend land expropriation for public construction work. It ordered the expropriation be put on hold until a ruling in a separate lawsuit is handed down. But the national and local governments appealed the order.

The landowners filed the separate lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, asking for a court order to cancel the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Expropriation Commission's decision in September 2002 to condemn their land.

The district court is expected to hand down a ruling on that case this spring.

Landowners slammed Thursday's decision, saying it ignores the rights of property owners and "betrays the expectations of the majority of Japanese citizens who seek environmental protection and oppose the negative effects of road construction, such as air pollution."