The new Ayalon Highway (Road 20) section between the Seven Stars Interchange in Herzliya and the new eastern Kfar Shmaryahu Interchange, and from there to the eastern Herzliya Interchange on Road 531, will be opened for northbound traffic tomorrow. Southbound traffic from Ra'anana to the eastern Kfar Shmaryahu Interchange, and from there to the Seven Stars Interchange, will not be opened until March 2017.
Another route slated for opening in March 2017 stretches from Ra'anana to the eastern Kfar Shmaryahu Interchange, and northward from there to the coastal road through the Rishpon Interchange currently under construction. Completion of this section, which will make it possible to travel from Road 531 southward on the Ayalon Highway, is being delayed by the construction of an additional railway track along the coast. The railway currently passes close to Kfar Shmaryahu.
The new segments to be opened tomorrow are expected to relieve traffic jams on Hama'apilim Street, which crosses Kfar Shmaryahu and turns into Menachem Begin Road and Jewish Brigade Street in northern Herzliya on the way to Ra'anana. The new route is likely to also relieve somewhat the eastern-bound afternoon traffic jams on Road 5 between Glilot and Morasha Interchanges and on Road 4 between Morasha and Ra'anana Interchanges by attracting drivers who use this road to reach Ra'anana.
At the same time, only the scheduled opening of the segment of Road 531 between the southern Ra'anana Interchange and the Malal Interchange in March 2017 will make it possible to drive straight from Kfar Shmaryahu in the west to Road 40 and Road 6 in the east. The segment will be opened by completion of the southern Ra'anana Interchange, which will have four levels. The highest will be Road 531 and the next highest will be Road 4, followed by a railway station with four railway tracks beneath it (two in each direction) in a 1.8-kilometer tunnel. The interchange will also include park and ride parking for railway passengers.
The NIS 12 billion Road 531 project also includes construction of railway stations at the Ra'anana Interchange and in western Ra'anana at the interchange connecting Road 531 with Jerusalem Street. Netivei Israel CEO Nissim Peretz said that all the work on the project would be completed by the end of 2018, when the railway would begin operating on the 12-kilometer Hasharon route to be laid along the road.
Completion of work on the connecting of the Ayalon Highway to Road 2 between eastern Kfar Shmaryahu and the Rishpon Interchange is scheduled for the first half of 2018. This will connect the coastal road with Road 6 by way of Road 531, and make it possible to enter the Ayalon Highway from the coastal road without passing through the Kfar Shmaryahu and Hasira Interchanges. The total budget for the segment between Seven Stars and Kfar Shmaryahu is NIS 1 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 28, 2016
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