The Tel Aviv - Jerusalem highway (Road 1) will close tonight at 10 pm and only reopen tomorrow morning at 10 am after the opening of the Harel Tunnels and the Motza bridge.
In the direction of Jerusalem, the road will be closed from the Latrun Interchange eastwards to Ginot Sakharov at the entrance to Jerusalem. In the direction of Tel Aviv, the road will be closed from Ginot Sakharov to the Hemed Interchange. Drivers are advised to travel between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Road 443.
Road 38 to Shaar Hagai will also be closed with drivers advised to use Road 395 via Ramat Raziel and Ein Kerem to reach Jerusalem.
The new tunnels, 800 meters in each direction beneath Mevasseret Zion, will replace the steep climb to the Harel Interchange at Castel. There are three lanes in each direction although until the project is fully completed in May, only two lanes in each direction will be operational.
In addition the west-east section of the Motza bridge is being opened to replace the notoriously dangerous Motza curve. The east-west section was already opened last year.
The Ministry of Transport says that the new tunnels and bridge will reduce the travel time between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to just 30 minutes if there is no traffic congestion.
Earlier this week the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by Mevasseret Zion residents to delay opening the new tunnels. The petitioners were concerned about reduced access to Mevasseret, which has 30,000 residents, and the fact that inter-city public transport will now stop at the much more distant Hemed Interchange rather than the Harel Interchange.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 19, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017