Breaking: Major Accident on Keiji Bypass – Temporary Closure Cleared, How Are Gusto and the Petrol Stations?
There was a bit of a drama on the Keiji Bypass this morning, just as the morning rush was starting to build. A large truck and a car were involved in an accident, apparently. It happened in the section between Kumiyama and Kusatsu. A mate messaged me saying, "It's completely chocka out here," and I thought we were in for a full day of gridlock.
Massive road closure after the accident
For the investigation, the northbound lanes from Kyoto-Minami IC to Kusatsu-Tanoue IC were fully closed for a while. The accident must have been a big one – I heard there was even a chopper overhead taking photos. But by the afternoon, the cleanup was finished and the closure was lifted. Thanks to the police and fire crews getting it sorted quickly, at least it didn't drag on until nightfall – that's a small mercy.
Still, that stretch is always busy even on a normal weekday, so traffic was heavy for a while even after it reopened. The usual bottleneck is around Gusto Keiji Bypass, and today the queue was backed up way further than normal because of the accident.
How did the local "fuel pits" hold up?
Times like this, if you're driving, you start to worry about running out of gas or needing a place to duck into for a loo stop. If you're a regular on the Keiji Bypass, these spots are worth remembering.
- apollostation Keiji Bypass Kusatsu SS (West Japan Usami): It's on the left heading towards Kusatsu, so you need to time it right if you're heading north, but they do fuel and car washes. It's popular with locals, and plenty of people even use the bypass just to get to this station.
- ENEOS EneJet Self-Service Keiji Bypass (Ito Yusuke Co., Ltd.): This one's on the other side of the road for southbound traffic, a 24-hour self-service station. Apparently, cars that were stuck in the morning diverted here, so it was pretty packed. But it's back to business as usual now.
Most days you just drive past these two, but when things go wrong, they're absolute lifesavers. Having apollostation and ENEOS on that stretch when something unexpected happens today is a real comfort.
What about Gusto, the driver's go-to pit stop?
Then there's Gusto Keiji Bypass, pretty much the only place to take a proper break around there. While the bypass was closed, it sounds like quite a few drivers hung out here to kill time. Someone who passed by said the car park was almost full in the morning and there was a queue out the door. It calmed down by the evening, but I bet the drink bar had plenty of people making themselves comfortable today.
The Keiji Bypass doesn't have a lot of good alternative routes, so when there's an accident, this whole area grinds to a halt. I heard that National Route 1 and the prefectural roads nearby were clogged up all morning with cars trying to get off the bypass. For anyone living in the area, today must have been a real headache.
Latest traffic update and what to expect
I've heard from someone in the know that the accident vehicles have been towed away. There aren't any restrictions in place at the interchange on the Keiji Bypass right now. But I've also heard they're still doing some checks on the road surface and finishing up the investigation. So if you're driving through tonight, it's worth taking it easy around Gusto and the merge points at the interchanges, just to be safe.
Also, petrol stations can get pretty slammed on days like this. Both apollostation Keiji Bypass Kusatsu SS and ENEOS EneJet are likely to be busy this evening with the after-work fuel rush. If you're not in a hurry, you're probably better off waiting until early tomorrow morning or later tonight.
A big shout-out to the police, firefighters, and highway crews who were on the scene today. And here's hoping anyone caught up in the accident wasn't too seriously hurt.