Trucks stranded on Shin-Meishin Expressway mostly freed

Trucks stranded amid heavy snow on the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Mie and Shiga prefectures were mostly freed by around 8 a.m. Thursday, but drivers were exhausted after being trapped for long hours.

The stretch where the gridlock occurred is located at high altitudes, according to Central Nippon Expressway Co. The company was on alert for snow in the area but could not respond in time because Wednesday s snowfall was much heavier than expected.

The expressway was gridlocked around the border of the two prefectures in the early hours of Wednesday, and the line of vehicles grew to 34 kilometers long by about noon that day. The expressway was expected to remain partially closed until late Thursday afternoon.

A 28-year-old truck driver from Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, was stranded for about 25 hours in Mie Prefecture.

She said that the hardest thing was that I couldn't eat anything for a whole day.

On Wednesday, vehicles near her on the expressway came to a stop from 2: 30 a.m. when she was making a delivery from Saitama Prefecture to Kobe. The few snacks the woman had had were soon gone. Central Nippon Expressway employees distributed bottles of water to stranded drivers, but she kept her intake to a minimum, fearing the urge to go to the bathroom.

The stranded vehicles started moving again at around 3: 20 a.m. on Thursday.

I am worried that the delays are causing problems for people at delivery destinations. She said I never expected something like this to happen.