Ayalon Highway

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Ayalon Highway

Highway 20, more commonly Ayalon Highway ("Netivey Ayalon") is a major intracity freeway

Freeway

A freeway is a type of road designed for Road safety#Motorway high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections....
in Gush Dan

Gush Dan

Gush Dan is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv District and the Center District Districts of Israel. It is located along the Israeli coastal plain....
, Israel

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
. The road runs along Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....
's center eastern border from north to south (with a planned east-west branch as well) and connects all of the major highways leading to the city - such as Highway 4

Highway 4 (Israel)

Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire Israeli Coastal Plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier#Erez Crossing with the Gaza Strip....
from Ashdod

Ashdod

Ashdod , is the List of Israeli cities in Israel, located in the South District of the country, on the Mediterranean Sea Israeli Coastal Plain, with a population of 207,000....
and the Southern regions

South District (Israel)

The South District is one of Israel's Districts of Israel, and is the largest in terms of land area as well as the most sparsely populated. It covers most of the Negev desert, as well as the Arabah valley....
, Highway 2

Highway 2 (Israel)

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in North District Israel, and the List of Israeli cities in the country, with a population of over 264,900. Haifa has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs....
and the Northern regions

North District (Israel)

The North District , is one of Israel's Districts of Israel. The North District has a land area of 4,478 km?, which increases to 4,638 km? when both land and water are included....
, Highway 5

Highway 5 (Israel)

Highway 5, or the Trans-Samaria Highway , is one of Israel's main highways, connecting the Mediterranean Sea coast immediately north of Tel Aviv with the central Sharon plain and Ariel and other Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, known under the biblical name Samaria....
from the East, and Highway 1

Highway 1 (Israel)

Highway 1 , is the main highway connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem. Highway 1 continues into the West Bank past Ma'ale Adummim, and is then downgraded in size until the Beit HaArava Junction with Route 90 south of Jericho near the shores of the Dead Sea....
from Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
and the Southeast

Jerusalem District

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Encyclopedia

Highway 20, more commonly Ayalon Highway ("Netivey Ayalon") is a major intracity freeway

Freeway

A freeway is a type of road designed for Road safety#Motorway high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections....
in Gush Dan

Gush Dan

Gush Dan is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv District and the Center District Districts of Israel. It is located along the Israeli coastal plain....
, Israel

Israel

Tel Aviv

Highway 4 (Israel)

Ashdod

South District (Israel)

Highway 2 (Israel)

Haifa

North District (Israel)

The North District , is one of Israel's Districts of Israel. The North District has a land area of 4,478 km?, which increases to 4,638 km? when both land and water are included....
, Highway 5

Highway 5 (Israel)

Highway 1 (Israel)

Jerusalem

Jerusalem District

The Jerusalem District is one of Districts of Israel of Israel. Its land area is 652 km? . Its population of 868,500 includes 68.4% Jews and 29.8% Arabs ....
. The Ayalon Highway is heavily travelled and over 750,000 vehicles per day use its main section. It consists of a multi-lane highway with a multi-track railway located between the opposite travel lanes. Some of the highway's route is along the Ayalon River, hence its name.

Background

Before the construction of the Ayalon Highway, all the major inter-city highways leading to Tel Aviv terminated in the outskirts of the city. This created major traffic congestion in the entry and exit points and made driving through the city very difficult. Moreover, before the highway, Tel Aviv had two separate railway stations, one in the north and one in the south, which were not connected. Thus passengers wanting to travel to the South of the country could only do so from the southern station and those who wanted to travel to the North could only do so from the northern (Central) station. Even worse, trains from the northern part of the country could not travel to the southern part of the country without bypassing Tel Aviv from the East, making train travel in Israel very inefficient. Finally there was the problem of the Ayalon River, which went through parts of Tel Aviv and would sometimes cause flooding.

To solve these problems, as early as the 1950s ideas were raised regarding using the route of the river as a transportation corridor, but it wasn't until the mid-1960s that the government began planning. In the 1970s a government-owned company, Ayalon Highways Ltd., was set up to construct the highway. The first phase included construction of a concrete channel for the Ayalon River to alleviate the flooding problem. In 1982, the first section of the road opened, and in 1991 the final section of the central part of the road was completed. This section connects Route 1 in the south with Route 5 and Route 2 in the north. A railway with four stations was built in the center of the highway, which provided for the long-sought connection of Israel's railway network through Tel Aviv.

In the early 1990s the construction of a southern section of the highway had started. This section goes from the HaHagana raiway station through the southern Tel Aviv suburbs of Holon

Holon

File:Location_holon.pngHolon is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District....
, Bat Yam

Bat Yam

File:Location_batyam.pngBat Yam is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean coast, on the central coastal strip, just south of Tel Aviv....
and Rishon LeZion

Rishon LeZion

Rishon LeZion , is the List of cities in Israel in Israel, located along the central Israeli Coastal Plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007....
and connects to Highway 4 north of Yavne

Yavne

Yavne is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 32,200....
. After the highway splits with the Ayalon River at Highway 1, it goes on the route of a road called Heyl HaShiryon Road (??? ??? ??????, meaning "Way of the Armoured Corps"), then on the route of Yigael Yadin

Yigael Yadin

Yigael Yadin was an Israeli archeology, politician, and the second Ramatkal of the Israel Defense Forces....
Road until Wolfson Interchange, where it goes on the route of Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the Israel Defense Forces. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda and the Labor Party ), acting Prime Minister of Israel, as well as being a member of Knesset and government minister from the tenth through the seventeenth Knessets....
Road (??? ???? ????).

The road's impact

The road and railway had a major impact on the Tel Aviv region. While quite congested at times it nevertheless alleviated traveling to and through Tel Aviv. Considerable real estate

Real estate

Real estate is a law term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location. development of offices, shopping, and housing occurred along the route, so much so, that Tel Aviv's Central Business District

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In Australia, China , Republic of Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and South Africa, the phrase is commonly used, and is often colloquially abbreviated to "CBD"....
lost much of its importance as many businesses relocated to near the road. Israel Railways

Israel Railways

Israel Railways is Israel's government-owned national railway company and is responsible for all Inter-city rail and suburban railway passenger and freight traffic in the country....
saw huge increases in passenger numbers now that north/south trains could travel through Tel Aviv instead of around it.

Future plans

Currently heavy construction activity is taking place to add more lanes in the southern part of the highway, to complete the construction of a second overpass in the Holon

Holon

File:Location_holon.pngHolon is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District....
interchange and place railroad tracks in the median of the highway. An east-west branch "Ayalon East", from Highway 5 to the Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University is a large, public university, located in Tel Aviv, Israel. As of 2006, the Tel Aviv University has a student population of 29,000....
railway station along the path of the Yarkon River has been planned, but is still not approved. Currently the northern terminus of the road is in Herzliya

Herzliya

File:Location_herzliya.pngHerzliya is a List of Israeli cities of 84,200 residents located on the Israeli coastal plain of Israel. It is part of the Tel Aviv District....
, but approved plans are in place to extend it further north to near kibbutz

Kibbutz

A kibbutz is a Intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The kibbutz is a form of communal living that combines socialism and Zionism....
Shefayim

Shefayim

Shefayim is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located 17 km north of Tel Aviv along the Mediterranean Sea coast, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council....
.

The central section of the road is built along the banks of the Ayalon River. However, Israel railways is in desperate need of adding a fourth railroad track in that area and no space exists to do so but "on top" of the river itself. Several suggestions have been made to solve this problem, ranging from diverting the entire river through Jaffa

Jaffa

File:Jaffa StPeter church.jpgJaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world.Jaffa is located south of Tel Aviv, Israel on the Mediterranean Sea....
, to building an elevated highway, to creating a man-made lake for capturing flooding overflow south of the city and burying the river in a large diameter pipe and constructing the railway on top of it. All these solutions involve great cost and no decision has been made yet on how to proceed.

The long-term projection is for Route 20 to run as far north as Hadera

Hadera

Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa . The city is located along of the Israeli coastal plain....
. However, this has garnered very strong opposition from environmental groups, since the road would have to cross a nature preserve and other sensitive environmental areas. These groups suggest widening Route 2

Highway 2 (Israel)

Highway 2 is an Israeli highway located on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea. It stretches from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The highway is also called The Coastal Highway or The New Haifa - Tel Aviv Highway ....
(the so-called "Coastal Highway"), an existing expressway north of Tel Aviv which roughly parallels (several kilometers to the west) Route 20's future route, instead of extending Route 20 northwards.

Interchanges

km	Name	Meaning	Location	Road(s) Crossed
Ayalon South
0	???? ????? (Holot Interchange)	Sand Dunes	Gan Sorek Gan Sorek Gan Sorek is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Israeli coastal plain around four kilometres south-west of Rishon LeZion and covering 700 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gan Raveh Regional Council....	(Highway 4 Highway 4 (Israel) Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire Israeli Coastal Plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier#Erez Crossing with the Gaza Strip.... )
1	???? ???? ?????? (Mevo Ayalon Interchange)	Ayalon Ayalon Ayalon is the name of a location in Israel and a Hebrew family name. It is the modern transliteration of Ajalon. It may refer to the following:... Gateway	Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion , is the List of cities in Israel in Israel, located along the central Israeli Coastal Plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007....	(Route 431 Route 431 (Israel) Route 431 , is a suburban freeway in the south of the Gush Dan in Israel. The freeway connects the Ayalon Highway in the west with highway 1 in the east.... )
3.5	???? ??? ???? (Moshe Dayan Interchange)	Named after Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan, was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Ramatkal of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new Israel....	Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion , is the List of cities in Israel in Israel, located along the central Israeli Coastal Plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007....	(Route 441)
5	???? ??????? (Komemiyut Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Bat Yam Bat Yam File:Location_batyam.pngBat Yam is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean coast, on the central coastal strip, just south of Tel Aviv....	HaKomemiyut St.
6.5	???? ?????? (Yoseftal Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Bat Yam Bat Yam File:Location_batyam.pngBat Yam is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean coast, on the central coastal strip, just south of Tel Aviv....	Yoseftal Giora Yoseftal Dr Giora Yoseftal was an Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Born in Nuremberg in Germany, Yoseftal was a member of the Yiddisher Yudenbund youth movement in his teens.... Blvd.
7.5	???? ?? ??? (Dov Hoz Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Holon Holon File:Location_holon.pngHolon is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District....	Dov Hoz Dov Hoz Dov Hoz was a leader of the Labor Zionism movement, one of the founders of the Haganah organization, and a pioneer of Israeli aviation.Born in Orsha, Russian Empire in 1894, Hoz immigrated to Palestine along with his family in 1906.... Blvd.
9	???? ??????? (Wolfson Interchange)	Named after nearby Wolfson Medical Center	Holon Holon File:Location_holon.pngHolon is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District....	Local Roads
12	???? ????? (Holon Interchange)	Named after location	Holon Holon File:Location_holon.pngHolon is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District....	(Highway 44) Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a myocardial infarction in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.... Blvd.
13	???? ??? ?????? (Hel HaShiryon)	Named after intersecting street	Holon Holon File:Location_holon.pngHolon is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District....	(Highway 2 Highway 2 (Israel) Highway 2 is an Israeli highway located on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea. It stretches from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The highway is also called The Coastal Highway or The New Haifa - Tel Aviv Highway .... ) Hel HaShiryon Blvd.
Ayalon North
13	???? ????? ?????? (Kibbutz Galuyot Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	(Highway 1 Highway 1 (Israel) Highway 1 , is the main highway connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem. Highway 1 continues into the West Bank past Ma'ale Adummim, and is then downgraded in size until the Beit HaArava Junction with Route 90 south of Jericho near the shores of the Dead Sea.... /Highway 2 Highway 2 (Israel) Highway 2 is an Israeli highway located on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea. It stretches from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The highway is also called The Coastal Highway or The New Haifa - Tel Aviv Highway .... /Route 461) _{DiasporaDiaspora The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnicity identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their Settler territory, and became residents in areas often far removed from the former.... Ingathering St.}
14	???? ?? ???????? (LaGuardia Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	LaGuardia Fiorello H. LaGuardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia was Mayor of New York for three terms from 1934 to 1945. He was popularly known as "the Little Flower," the translation of his Italian language first name, Fiorello, and, most likely, a reference to his short stature.... St.
16	???? ????? (HaShalom Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	HaShalom Shalom File:Shalom gradient.pngShalom is a Hebrew language word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.... Road
17	???? ????? (HaRakevet Interchange)	The Train Train A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track to rail transport from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rail tracks, but might also be a monorail or magnetic levitation train guideway.... after nearby Tel Aviv Center Railway Station	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	(Route 481)
17.5	???? ????? (HaHalakha Interchange)	The Halakha Halakha Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	HaRav Shlomo Goren Shlomo Goren Shlomo Goren , was an Orthodox Judaism Religious Zionism rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel from 1973 to 1983.... St.
19	???? ???? (Rokah Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	Rokah Israel Rokach Israel Rokach, Order of the British Empire was an Israeli politician, Knesset member, and the mayor of Tel Aviv between November 15, 1936 and April 13, 1953.... Blvd.
21	???? ??? ????? (Keren Kayemet Interchange)	Named after intersecting street	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....	Keren Kayemet LeYisrael (JNF) Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a non-profit corporation owned by the World Zionist Organization... Blvd.
23	???? ?????? ???? (Glilot Mizrah Interchange)	East Glilot	Ramat HaSharon Ramat Hasharon File:Location_ramathasharon.pngRamat HaSharon is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon, Israel region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south and Herzliya and Glil Yam to the north....	(Highway 5 Highway 5 (Israel) Highway 5, or the Trans-Samaria Highway , is one of Israel's main highways, connecting the Mediterranean Sea coast immediately north of Tel Aviv with the central Sharon plain and Ariel and other Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, known under the biblical name Samaria.... _{to Highway 2Highway 2 (Israel) Highway 2 is an Israeli highway located on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea. It stretches from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The highway is also called The Coastal Highway or The New Haifa - Tel Aviv Highway ....})
25.5	???? ???? ??????? (Shiv'at HaKohavim Interchange)	The Seven Stars	Herzliya Herzliya File:Location_herzliya.pngHerzliya is a List of Israeli cities of 84,200 residents located on the Israeli coastal plain of Israel. It is part of the Tel Aviv District....	(Route 541)
27.5	???? ???????? (HaMa'apilim Interchange)	The Unlawful Immigrants	Kfar Shmaryahu Kfar Shmaryahu File:Location_kfarshmaryahu.pngKfar Shmaryahu is a local council in Israel, within the Tel Aviv District. The council was founded in 1937, during the Aliyah#Fifth Aliyah .281929-1939.29 to Israel.... _{only to North}	(Route 541)
In planning stages
29	???? ????? (Rishpon Interchange)	Named after location	Rishpon Rishpon Rishpon is a moshav in the Center District of Israel. Located in the Sharon plain near Herzliya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council....	(Route 531 Route 531 (Israel) Route 531 , is a suburban freeway in the southern Sharon region of Israel.While the highway begins at Highway 6 and currently terminates in Kfar Saba, in 2008 a tender was issued to continue constructing the highway towards the Mediterranean coast.... /Highway 2)

Northbound Ayalon continues on to its current terminus at Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin

was the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the establishment of the state, he was the leader of the Irgun, playing a central role in Jewish resistance to the British Mandate of Palestine....
St. in Herzliya

Herzliya

File:Location_herzliya.pngHerzliya is a List of Israeli cities of 84,200 residents located on the Israeli coastal plain of Israel. It is part of the Tel Aviv District....
.

External links

- Official site. Includes up to the minute traffic reports and live traffic camera views.