# Ikebukuro Route

The Ikebukuro Route (池袋線, Ikebukuro-sen), signed as Route 5, is one of the tolled routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the Greater Tokyo Area. The route is a 21.5-kilometer (13.4 mi) long radial highway running north from Chiyoda City to Toda, Saitama. It connects Tokyo's Inner Circular Route in central Tokyo to the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway where it continues north as the Ōmiya Route.

## Route description

The Ikebukuro Route begins at Takebashi Junction with the Inner Circular Route in Chiyoda City just north of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. From there it travels northwest through Shinjuku, Bunkyō, Toshima, and Itabashi in Tokyo before crossing over the Arakawa River into Toda in Saitama Prefecture where the Ikebukuro Route ends at Bijogi Junction where it intersects the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway. The expressway continues northward as the Ōmiya Route to Ōmiya-ku.
The speed limit on the Ikebukuro Route is set at 60 km/h.

## History

The Ikebukuro Route was first opened in March 1967 between Nishi-kanda and the expressway's southern terminus at Takebashi Junction. It was extended to its current length in phases completed in 1969, 1977, 1990, and 1993.
In preparation for increased congestion during the 2020 Summer Olympics, a new traffic-control system was installed in July 2019 along the expressway at the interchanges at Kita-Ikebukuro, Nishi-Kanda, Gokokuji, Nakadai, Takashimadaira, Toda-minami, Higashi-Ikebukuro, and Iidabashi.

## Junction list

| Prefecture | Location | km | mi | Exit | Name | Destinations | Notes |
| Tokyo | Chiyoda | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | Takebashi | Inner Circular Route – Kandabashi, Kasumigaseki, Tōmei Expressway, Chūō Expressway | Southern terminus |
| Tokyo | Chiyoda | 0.1 | 0.062 | 27 | Hitotsubashi | Tokyo Metropolitan Route 401 (Hakusan-dōri) | Southbound exit, northbound entrance |
| Tokyo | Chiyoda | 0.6 | 0.37 | 501 | Nishi-kanda | Sendai-dōri – Jinbōchō, Iidabashi | Southbound entrance, northbound exit |
| Tokyo | Shinjuku | 2.2 | 1.4 | 502 | Iidabashi | Tokyo Metropolitan Route 8 (Chiyoda-Nerima-Tanashi Route) Tokyo Metropolitan Route 405 (Sotobori-Kanjō Route) – Kudan, Ichigaya, Suidōbashi | Southbound exit, northbound entrance |
| Tokyo | Shinjuku | 3.4 | 2.1 | 503 | Waseda | Gaienhigashi-dōri Tokyo Metropolitan Route 8 (Chiyoda-Nerima-Tanashi Route) – Takadanobaba, Edogawabashi | Northbound exit only |
| Tokyo | Bunkyō | 4.5 | 2.8 | 505 | Gokokuji | Tokyo Metropolitan Route 437 (Shinobazu-dōri) Tokyo Metropolitan Route 435 (Otowa-Ikebukuro Route) | Southbound entrance, northbound exit |
| Tokyo | Toshima | 5.0 | 3.1 | | Minami-Ikebukuro PA | | Southbound only |
| Tokyo | Toshima | 5.9– 6.2 | 3.7– 3.9 | 507, 508 | Higashi-Ikebukuro | Sunshine City | |
| Tokyo | Toshima | 7.5 | 4.7 | 509 | Kita-Ikebukuro | National Route 254 (Kawagoekaidō) Tokyo Metropolitan Route 317 (Yamate-dōri) | Southbound entrance, northbound exit |
| Tokyo | Itabashi | 7.8 | 4.8 | — | Kumanochō | Central Circular Route – Tōmei Expressway, Chūō Expressway, Tōhoku Expressway | Southbound exit, northbound entrance; southern end of C2 concurrency |
| Tokyo | Itabashi | 8.9 | 5.5 | — | Itabashi | Central Circular Route – Tōmei Expressway, Chūō Expressway, Tōhoku Expressway, Jōban Expressway, Higashi-Kantō Expressway | Northern end of C2 concurrency |
| Tokyo | Itabashi | 9.5– 10.5 | 5.9– 6.5 | 511, 512 | Itabashihonchō | Nakasendō Tokyo Metropolitan Route 318 (Kannana-dōri) | |
| Tokyo | Itabashi | | | | Shimura PA / TB | | Parking area is for southbound traffic only |
| Tokyo | Itabashi | 12.9 | 8.0 | 513 | Nakadai | Tokyo Metropolitan Route 311 (Kanpachi-dōri) | Southbound exit, northbound entrance |
| Tokyo | Itabashi | 18.0 | 11.2 | 515 | Takashimadaira | National Route 17 (Shin-Ōmiya Bypass) Tokyo Metropolitan Route 447 (Takashima-dōri) | Southbound entrance, northbound exit |
| Saitama | Toda | 18.8– 21.0 | 11.7– 13.0 | 517, 518 | Toda / Toda-minami | National Route 17 (Shin-Ōmiya Bypass) | |
| Saitama | Toda | 21.0 | 13.0 | — | Bijogi | Tokyo Gaikan Expressway Ōmiya Route – Ōizumi, Kan-etsu Expressway, Misato, Tōhoku Expressway, Jōban Expressway | Northern terminus; expressway continues as the Ōmiya Route |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access Route transition ||||||||