Highways in Yamatai

Highways in Yamatai (高速道路) comprise a large share of the transport sector in Yamatai. Around 1.4 million kilometres of paved road has been laid across Yamatai, with two networks of expressways serving the Naichi archipelago and Hinomoto separately.

The public-access high-speed roads in Yamatai are classified into four types. National Expressways are high-speed controlled-access toll roads operated by government-affiliated private corporations, mostly linking the major cities of Yamatai in direct routes. Urban Expressways are similar to National Expressways with the difference being that the Urban Expressways are intra-city expressways within the larger metropolitan areas of Yamatai. National Roads are public-access toll-free routes overseen by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and usually link most major settlements within a given area with the closest major city. High Speed Roads are largely public-access roads that have high speed limits and act as feeders to the major highways systems in more isolated regions, with the responsibility for their maintenance falling to local provincial governments.

On Hinomoto, the Hinomoto Express Route System is a comprehensive expressway system serving the entire island, comprised of nine major roads with a significant portion being limited-access expressway. The Government of Hinomoto oversees the Express Route System through the Hinomoto Express Route System Committee.

Yamataian highways are often regarded as highly safe due to a variety of factors, including emergency roadside telephones every 500 metres, readily responsive emergence services, strong road education and driving education systems, as well as a culture of safety, caution, and selflessness on the road.

History
Organised road networks have been crucial in Yamataian history since antiquity. From around 200 BCE, the First Kingdom of Yamatai was able to consolidate its power and influence over the rest of the Naichi archipelago through the use of state-constructed footpaths, which were used by the state and religious authorities as well as for trade between settlements. This ancient road network laid the groundwork for subsequent large-scale road networks built by the competing states during the Sankoku Period as well as by the increasingly centralised Yamataian state during the medieval period.

By the time of the Holy Empire of Yamatai in the 16th century, the idea of a state-sponsored road system was important enough that the theocratic regime had an official Temple of Road Maintenance, a religious body somewhat analogous to a government ministry. It was during the Holy Empire period that many of the modern routes were first constructed. The pavement of roads across the entire nation was considered a great achievement by the Holy Empire, which the High Kannushi boasted about in a letter to the Shogun of Hinomoto in 1720.

As technology improved and industrialisation arrived, the road system of Yamatai improved even further over the centuries, becoming a high-speed network first for foot travel and horses and subsequently automobiles. During the period of military rule, the first inter-city highways were constructed to improve national logistics. Many of the mountain tunnels and bridges over the various straits in the Naichi archipelago were built during this era, with most efforts spearheaded by the Imperial Army Engineering Corps. Following the annexation of Hinomoto, a road network was also quickly erected throughout the island.

Following the Second Escar-Varunan War and the subsequent economic boom in the 1950s, the increase in automobile usage and ownership led the government to expand several highways throughout the 1960s. In 1976, the Yamataian government undertook a major project to consolidate and properly classify the various highways and high-speed roads in Yamatai in response to public feedback, resulting in the modern system of highway classification.

National Expressways
Yamataian National Expressways are inter-city high-speed and controlled-access toll roads. Most of the National Expressways are constructed in direct routes between major cities to decrease travelling times. The tolls on the National Expressways are collected by government-affiliated private corporations, which are also responsible for the maintenance of the expressways. All National Expressways operate on a distance-based toll system.

National Expressway signage is in green with white lettering.

Urban Expressways
Urban Expressways are intra-city high-speed, controlled-access toll roads. Operated and maintained individually by private companies, Urban Expressways are located within the larger metropolitan areas of Yamatai. Due to lack of space many of these expressways are constructed as viaducts running above local roads.

Currently all urban expressways operate on a flat-rate toll system (the toll is the same regardless of the distance travelled on the network). Similarly to National Expressways, signage is in green with white lettering.

National Roads
The National Roads are public-access, toll-free road systems that connect most major settlements within particular regions. Overseen and maintained by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the National Road system is funded by tax money. National Roads are only found in the Naichi archipelago, and the system does not exist

National Roads are numbered with a four-digit number. The two-digit road number is prefixed with a two-digit number denoting the administrative island and the province the road is located in. Signage on National Roads is blue with white lettering.

High Speed Road
High Speed Roads are local roads of at least four-lane width that see a significant amount of use, necessitating a higher speed limit. These are public-access roads that are maintained and operated by local provincial governments for localised transportation purposes. These roads do not have tolls and are largely feeders from more isolated areas connecting to the main highway systems. There is no national classification system for High Speed Roads as they are part of the myriad of local road systems.

Hinomoto Express Route System
The Hinomoto Express Route System was officially implemented in 2004, organising the major roads in the territory into a single comprehensive expressway system. The system comprises of nine major series of roads in Hinomoto, numbered Routes 1 to 5 and 7 to 10. This system replaced the preceding highway system that maintained the highway numbers from communist-era Hinomoto alongside the new numbering system introduced by the post-liberation government of Hinomoto. The modern Hinoan highway system utilises roads from the communist era and newer roads constructed after liberation to connect the major cities and settlements of Hinomoto.

The entirety of the system offers some level of limited access, with a significant portion being expressway. The system also implements exit numbering with the exits of each route are numbered sequentially; some exit numbers are suffixed with a letter. Exit numbers are indicated by white in black rectangular boxes on overhead and roadside signs. The Government of Hinomoto oversees the Express Route System through the Hinomoto Express Route System Committee.