Highway 16 (Israel)

Highway 16 (or Ariel Sharon Blvd[1]) is a highway at the western entrance to Jerusalem providing direct access to the southern and central sections of the city from the west. Most of the road is located inside newly built tunnels. The project cost approximately 1.5 billion shekels,[2][3][4][5][6] and was inaugurated a year ahead of schedule on August 31, 2022.[7]

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Highway 16
כביש 16
NahalRevidaInterchangeMar042023 02.jpg
Nahal Revida Interchange
Route information
Length4.7 km (2.9 mi)
HistoryOpened 2022
Major junctions
West endMotza Interchange
Major intersectionsNahal Revida Interchange
Beyth Interchange
East endGivat Mordechai
Location
CountryIsrael
Highway system
← Highway 13→ Highway 20

Highway
View west across Nahal Revida Valley
Site of the future Nahal Revida Interchange

The highway connects Highway 1 at the new Motza Interchange and Jerusalem's Highway 50 (Begin Boulevard) at Givat Mordechai Interchange. The road mostly travels through a series of tunnels under the west Jerusalem neighbourhoods of Har Nof and Yefeh Nof and the parking lots of Shaare Zedek Medical Center. In the center, an above-ground interchange was built in the valley of Nahal Revida (Revida Stream) adjacent to the Pi Glilot Fuel Terminal to connect to Derech Yosef Weitz leading to Givat Shaul. The road was constructed as a four-lane freeway with a speed limit of 80 km/h.

History

The road was first proposed in the 1990s. Initially, the road was supposed to skirt around the western and southern slopes of Har Nof before entering a tunnel at Nahal Revida, continuing eastward under Yefeh Nof. This would have created nearly a kilometre of fully open road through the Jerusalem Forest. This plan was met with stiff opposition by the Jewish National Fund and a variety of "Green" groups due to ecological damage to the forest. As a result, the plan was changed to include a tunnel under Har Nof with an intermediate above-ground interchange at Nahal Revida.[8]

The program was stopped in 2003 to conduct environmental studies and consider an alternative to the Nahal Revida Interchange. By the end of 2007, the National Infrastructure Committee adopted the plan pending clarifications and public review. The plan moved forward again with an indemnity agreement between the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Ministry of Transport in 2010. At the same time, responsibility for building the road was shifted from the Moriah Jerusalem Development Corporation to the National Roads Company of Israel. Economic and environmental studies were updated. A plan to build the road as one long tunnel with the Nahal Ravida Interchange underground was rejected for economic reasons and because of the need for massive ventilation facilities that would cause greater environmental damage to the forest.[8]

Construction works for the Yefe Nof tunnel and the Beyth intersection. In the background, left to right: Bayit VeGan neighborhood, Shaare Zedek hospital, Ramat Beit Hakerem neighborhood

The plan was approved in 2011, again with further delays pending public review.[9] According to the National Roads Company, the plan was approved and budgeted at the end of 2012. After many delays, the construction contract was finally awarded in August 2018, with construction expected to begin in 2019 and last through 2023.[6]

Following the death of Talmudic scholar and former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef in 2013, Israeli Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz announced that the road would be named in his honour.[10] However, the Jerusalem Municipality Names Committee, which has jurisdiction in the matter, declared in 2017 that the road would be named in honour of former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.[11]

Construction Accident

On June 7, 2021, a portion of the Shaare Zedek hospital's external parking lot collapsed.[12] Seven parked cars fell into the sinkhole, which was deep enough to "swallow" a whole palm tree vertically, as well.[13][14] There were no reported victims, either killed or wounded. A cave or space between the ground and the excavated tunnel seems to be the sinkhole's cause.[15] Later, in August, Netivei Israel's spokesman said "We are exercising responsibility by repairing the hole," adding "responsibility is not guilt" because "there is also a separate issue regarding water from the Gihon water company that had permeated the ground due to insufficient drainage. It is also possible that we will never know the cause.".[16]

Criticism

Critics of the project note that because the road currently ends at a traffic light, it creates heavy congestion inside the city. To partially overcome this, a set of tunnels that will enable a more direct connection to Begin highway are expected to be completed in the late-2020s. Other criticisms include the project's immense budget, which could have instead been used to advance public transportation. Building of the project significantly disrupted the Motza and Revida valleys' natural habitat, including a large pre-historic archeological site, which was discovered and subsequently reburied.[17]

Interchanges (west to east)
Construction works for the Har Nof tunnel, photograph taken from Jerusalem Forest
District[18]Location[19]kmmiNameDestinationsNotes
JerusalemMotza00.0מחלף מוצא
(Motza Interchange)		 Highway 1
Har Nof1.20.75מנהרת הר נוף
(Har Nof tunnel)		4 lanes, 1.5 km
Givat Shaul2.81.7מחלף נחל רבידה
(Nahal Revida Interchange)		Derech Yosef Weitz.
Yefeh Nof2.91.8מנהרת בית הכרם
(Yefe Nof tunnel)		4 lanes, 1.3 km
Ramat Beit HaKerem4.22.6מחלף בייט
(Beyth Interchange)		Shmuel Beyth St.named after Hans Beyth
Givat Mordechai4.72.9מחלף גבעת מרדכי
(Givat Mordechai Interchange)		 Highway 50
Bezalel Bazak Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. Liran Tamari (2022-08-31). "פרסום ראשון: המשטרה מתנגדת לפתיחת כביש 16" [First publication: Police oppose the opening of Route 16]. mynetjerusalem (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  2. "Road 16, New entrance to Jerusalem, between Motza and Begin Highway". Israel Ministry of Transport, National Infrastructure & Road Safety. Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2012-12-02. (in Hebrew)
  3. "Road 16, Between the Motaz Curve and Begin Highway in Jerusalem". National Roads Company of Israel. Archived from the original on 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2012-12-02.(in Hebrew)
  4. "Roads Planned and Under Construction". Jerusalem Transport Master Plan Committee. Retrieved 2011-08-23.(in Hebrew)
  5. "Jerusalem Transportation Network-map". Jerusalem Transport Master Plan Committee. Archived from the original on 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2011-08-23. (in Hebrew)
  6. "כביש 16 - ציר הגישה הנוסף לירושלים: נבחרה זוכה במכרז" [Route 16 – the additional access road to Jerusalem: Winner of the tender selected] (in Hebrew). 30 August 2018.
  7. "Route 16 is inaugurated, serving as a new entrance to Jerusalem". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  8. "Save the Jerusalem Forest: Road 16". Forum of Organizations for the Jerusalem Forest. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  9. Sharon Udasin (2011-07-12). "Ministry okays paving road, cutting J'lem-TA travel time". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  10. Gil Ronen (2011-10-13). "New Jerusalem Road to be Named after Rabbi Ovadia". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  11. Meirav Arad (2017-12-28). "The new entrance road to Jerusalem will be named after Ariel Sharon". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  12. Jerusalem Post Staff (2021-06-07). "WATCH: Parking lot collapses into sinkhole at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  13. Alon Hachmon (2021-06-07). "View Documentation: A parking lot collapsed at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem". Maariv (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  14. "Watch sinkhole swallow up parked cars in Jerusalem". CNN. 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  15. Jerusalem Post Staff (2021-06-08). "Shaare Zedek sinkhole caused by highway tunnel excavations - report". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  16. Zev Stub (2021-08-17). "Two months after Shaare Zedek sinkhole, still no answers". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  17. Nir Hasson. המדינה תפתח היום כביש גישה חדש לירושלים, וכבר מתחילה להכיר בטעותה [The state will open a new access road to Jerusalem today, and is already beginning to recognize its mistake]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  18. Survey of Israel (October 31, 2018). "מחוזות משרד הפנים" [Ministry of Interior districts] (Map). Govmap (in Hebrew). Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  19. Survey of Israel (October 31, 2018). "גבולות ישובים" [Locality boarders] (Map). Govmap (in Hebrew). Retrieved October 31, 2018.

31°46′44″N 35°10′51″E

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