Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Anyone else get caught in this last nght? We were coming back from Gunma and just about to get on when we heard the news that there was a 30km tailback (90 min wait) so decided to use route 17 and travel the local roads through Gunma, hopefully bypassing the jam and jump back on the expressway....didn't quite work out like that! we were only about 15-20 mins from Tokyo when we rejoined the Kan-Etsu and the tailback was lonegr, gonna take 2 hours to reach Tokyo!! The time now was 11pm and the drivers were knacked after being awake since 3am. So we decided to hunker down in a service area and sleep for 2 hours and let the jam work its own way out. Woke up at 1am, back on the road, no jam in sight, Tokyo in 20 mins back in fujisawa just over an hour after that. Thats one advantage of taking the train!! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Wow that surprises me. What time did you get back home TB? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 just after 2.30am.....from Gunma!! we left at 7pm Link to post Share on other sites
dyna8800 3 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 About 5 pm, coming onto the Kan-Etsu from Minakami, bam, solid for 2 hours, all stop and go. Got to Akagi Kohgen for dinner about 7:30, then another 4 hours to Nerima IC. Makes ya rethink that "my car" transpo! Link to post Share on other sites
dyna8800 3 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 So, the real question is...what is the average time it takes you from Gunma to Tokyo and back? (My answer: 2 hours from Nerima to Minakami in good conditions, average 2.5 to 3, coming back, the sky is the limit.) Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Kanetsu often gets jammed up sunday afternoons from a little past Honjo, it starts to get more busy until you get close to Tokyo, then bam, that's it jammed. Luckily Living out here I don't have to return to Tokyo on a sunday anymore, but I know it can be a nightmare, I used to get that problem everytime I came back from Gunma also. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver just after 2.30am.....from Gunma!! we left at 7pm Missed the footie even! Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 You might have got back home quicker if only you had tried the extra-stage Mario pipe. Link to post Share on other sites
cheeseman 1 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Just make sure you have some cheese handy for situations like this. Not only delicious and nutritious, but fun amongst friends. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Dyna, two and a half hours from Minakami to Akagi Kogen SA??? Was there some kind of accident, or just weekend traffic? Tubby, how far did you go on Rt. 17, and how long did it take? (The Rt. 17 part). Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Whoah, glad I don't have to use it. Small world hey, I live just a few hundred m. from Route 17. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 this needs pics. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted February 3, 2010 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted February 3, 2010 When I fist came here I used to live very close to the Yuzawa IC. I remember often on Sundays from about lunchtime the traffic literally didn't move for 30 minutes at a time on the roads. There was one time when we looked out the window and then again 90 minutes later...and the same cars were lined up outside. I dread to think what the queues on the Kanetsu were like back then! I moved to Shiozawa after 5 years and even then it had calmed down a lot and you didn't see the jams in Yuzawa like they used to be. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 When are we talking about here? Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted February 3, 2010 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted February 3, 2010 My first winter here was December 1992. I wonder what it's like around lunchtime on a Sunday there now, I guess no traffic jams. Link to post Share on other sites
dyna8800 3 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Originally Posted By: Metabo Oyaji Dyna, two and a half hours from Minakami to Akagi Kogen SA??? Was there some kind of accident, or just weekend traffic? Yeup, no idea why...just lots of cars. It seems that Japanese drivers are not experienced driving fast in congested conditions, one hits the brakes and then a tailback develops for tens of kilometers. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 that's called a phantom jam. Saw a docco about it. Quite litereally one brakes and it dominoes all the way back. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 I was in Yuzawa a few weeks ago on a Sunday and didn't see much in the way of traffic at all! 1992 wasn't that the tail end of the "ski boom" period? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Originally Posted By: dyna8800 Originally Posted By: Metabo Oyaji Dyna, two and a half hours from Minakami to Akagi Kogen SA??? Was there some kind of accident, or just weekend traffic? Yeup, no idea why...just lots of cars. It seems that Japanese drivers are not experienced driving fast in congested conditions, one hits the brakes and then a tailback develops for tens of kilometers. we asked the toll booth guy if there had been an accident and he said "no, just lots of people coming back from the mountains!!". It seems weird that if there is no accident, traffic can come to a standstill....you'd think everyone would just keep moving! Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 i guess the toll booths stop a lot of traffic. I remember stuck in traffic every ski weekend from Nerima to Naeba....and back Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 but they are only on the access and exit ramps of the kan-etsu, don't really interfere with the flow of traffic Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 the phantom jam is a living animal. As the road is packed with loads of vehicles, the space between vehicles reduce. That makes you hyper sensitive. You could roll on at 30kph, see brake lights 2 cars ahead and you brake. And it filters down to those behind you. If you can watch the brake lights, they come like a wave rolling towards you. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver but they are only on the access and exit ramps of the kan-etsu, don't really interfere with the flow of traffic but most are coming into Tokyo which is Nerima and not on the exit ramps Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 True, but this jam was way before Nerima, either way we were stuck in it..it wasn't fun Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 maybe it was thinning out by the time you got there. Once i lost my expressway ticket and spent an hour at Nerima trying to convince them i only got on the expressway at Naeba Link to post Share on other sites
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