Only four months since the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry froze the planned construction of 18 sections of national highways that it directly manages, it has reversed the decision and opted to begin construction on 17 of the 18 sections.
During last year's Diet session, opposition forces had pointed out that the ministry's forecast of future traffic demand was too high. Because of this opposition criticism, the ministry lowered its forecast of traffic demand by 13 percent and based its March 31 decision to freeze construction on a cost-benefit analysis that took into account anticipated shorter travel times, reductions in fuel and other travel costs, and fewer traffic accidents.
Recently, however, construction designs for some sections were revised to make do with fewer lanes. The reduced cost estimate for construction led the ministry to approve the start of these sections. One wonders, though, if fewer lanes are acceptable now, why weren't they incorporated into the original design?
In addition to the cost-benefit analysis, the ministry has introduced new criteria such as the utility of highways during a natural disaster and the transport of patients in an emergency, and the degree to which highways contribute to encouraging local tourism.
The 17 sections approved for construction are in 11 prefectures including Hokkaido, Iwate, Niigata, Nagano, Hiroshima, Kochi, Kagoshima and Okinawa.
Apparently behind the ministry's turnabout were requests or pressure from politicians — from both the ruling and opposition camps — who will run in the Aug. 30 Lower House election. They said the construction freeze would negatively affect local economies and jeopardize their chance of being elected.
It is clear that local communities have particular reasons for needing new national highways. But the decision on highway construction should be made in a transparent manner so that wasteful investment is avoided.