Snow removal work on the Shiretoko Odan Road (National Highway Route 334) in eastern Hokkaido, which links Iwaobetsu in the town of Shari and Yunosawa in the town of Rausu, was opened to the press on April 8.

Snow removal work on the Shiretoko Odan Road, which was closed for the winter season on November 9 last year, began on March 10, with workers from the Abashiri Development and Constriction Dept. of the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau working their way up the Shiretoko Pass from the Shari side while those from the Kushiro Development and Constriction Dept. of the same bureau started out from the Rausu side. The Abashiri Development and Constriction Dept. is responsible for 11.4 kilometers of the road, which totals 23.8 km in length. According to the Abashiri Development and Constriction Dept., in some places, the roadside walls of snow on the Shari side of the pass are approximately 3 meters high – almost the same as in previous years.

　On April 8, a section of the road on the Shari side, approximately 300 meters from the top of the pass was opened to the press. Snow that had been excavated using a mechanical the previous day was blown downwind by two rotary snow blowers. The snow removal vehicles are capable of dealing with 3,600 tons of snow per hour.

　Sako Takahiro, manager of the Abashiri Development and Constriction Dept. Abashiri Road Office, said “The work is about 50% complete. We hope to open the road before the long holiday begins in late April.”