Highway 20 (Israel)
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| Highway 20 | |
| Hebrew name | נתיבי איילון (Netivei Ayalon) |
| Name meaning | Ayalon Highway |
| Length | 29 km |
| Direction | North - South |
| Classification | Freeway |
| Start | Rishon LeZion (Holot Interchange) |
| Primary destinations | |
| End | Herzliya (Begin Interchange) |
| Major junctions |
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Highway 20, usually referred to as the Ayalon Highway (Hebrew: נתיבי איילון, "Netivey Ayalon") is a major intracity freeway in Israel's Tel Aviv metropolitan area. The road goes through the center of the Tel Aviv area 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 from Ashdod and the South, Highway 2 from Haifa and the North, Highway 5 from the East, and Highway 1 from Jerusalem and the Southeast. The Ayalon Highway is heavily travelled and some 750,000 vehicles per day use its main section[citation needed]. 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.
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[edit] 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 sometime cause flooding.
To solve these problems, as early as the 1950's ideas were raised regarding using the route of the river as a transportation corridor but it wasn't until the mid-1960's that the government began planning. In the 1970's 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 4 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 1990's the construction of a section of the highway had started. This section goes from the HaHagana raiway station through the southern Tel Aviv suburbs of Holon, Bat Yam and Rishon LeZion and connects to Highway 4 north of Yavne. After the highway splits with the Ayalon River at Highway 1, it is goes on the route of a road called Heyl HaShiryon Road (דרך חיל השריון, meaning "Way of the Armoured Corps"), then on the route of Yigael Yadin Road until Wolfson Interchange, where it goes on the route of Yigal Allon Road (דרך יגאל אלון).
[edit] 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 travelling to and through Tel Aviv. Considerable real estate development of offices, shopping, and housing occurred along the route, so much so, that Tel Aviv's Central Business District lost much of its importance as many businesses relocated near the road. Israel Railways saw huge increases in passenger numbers now that north/south trains could travel through Tel Aviv instead of around it.
[edit] 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 interchange and place railroad tracks in the middle of the highway. An east-west branch "Ayalon East", from Highway 5 to the Tel Aviv University railway station along the path of the Yarkon River has been planned, but still not approved[1]. Currently the northern terminus of the road is in Herzliya but approved plans are in place to extend it further north to near kibbutz Shfayim.
The central section of the road is built along the sides 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, 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, 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 (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.
[edit] Interchanges
| Exit | Name | Meaning | Location | Road(s) Crossed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מחלף חולות (Holot Interchange) |
Sands | Gan Sorek |  (Highway 4) |
|
| Under construction | ||||
| 5 | מחלף מבוא איילון (Mevo Ayalon Interchange) |
Ayalon Gateway | Rishon LeZion |  (Highway 431) |
| 6 | מחלף משה דיין (Moshe Dayan Interchange) |
Named after Moshe Dayan |
Rishon LeZion |  (Route 441) |
| 7 | מחלף קוממיות (Komemiyut Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Bat Yam | HaKomemuyut str. |
| 8 | מחלף יוספטל (Yoseftal Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Bat Yam | Yoseftal blvd. |
| 9 | מחלף דב הוז (Dov Hoz Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Holon | Dov Hoz blvd. |
| 10 | מחלף וולפסון (Wolfson Interchange) |
Named after nearby Wolfson Medical Center |
Holon | Local Roads |
| 11 | מחלף חולון (Holon Interchange) |
Named after location | Holon |  (Highway 44) |
| 12 | מחלף קיבוץ גלויות (Kibutz Galuyot Interchange) |
Diaspora Ingathering | Tel Aviv |    (Highway 1/Highway 2/Route 461) |
| 13 | מחלף לה גרדיה (LaGuardia Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Tel Aviv | LaGuardia str. |
| 14 | מחלף השלום (HaShalom Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Tel Aviv | HaShalom Road |
| 15 | מחלף הרכבת (HaRakevet Interchange) |
The Train after nearby Tel Aviv Merkaz Railway Station |
Tel Aviv |  (Route 481) |
| 16 | מחלף ההלכה (HaHalaha Interchange) |
The Halakha | Tel Aviv | HaRav Shlomo Goren str. |
| 17 | מחלף רוקח (Rokah Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Tel Aviv | Rokah blvd. |
| 18 | מחלף קרן קיימת (Keren Kayemet Interchange) |
Named after intersecting street | Tel Aviv | Keren Kayemet LeYisra'el blvd. |
| 19 | מחלף גלילות מזרח (East Glilot Interchange) |
Ramat HaSharon |  (Highway 5) |
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| 20 | מחלף שבעת הכוכבים (Shiv'at HaKohavim Interchange) |
The Seven Stars | Herzliya |  (Route 541) |
Northbound Ayalon continues on to its terminus at Menachem Begin St. in Herzliya.
[edit] External links
- (Hebrew) Ayalon Highways Ltd. - Official site. Includes up to the minute traffic reports and live traffic camera views.
