Highway 44 (Israel)

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File:Bodek Architects Highway 44 station.JPG

Bus stops on Highway 44 (Israel) near Holon Interchange. Designed by Moti Bodek

Highway 44 is an arterial road in central Israel. It connects Tel Aviv-Yafo and Holon to Ramla, Lod and the Shefela. It is numbered as a north–south road and follows a north-west to south-east path.

Route description

Highway 44 begins in the coastal plain at the south-eastern edge of Tel Aviv at Holon Interchange with the Ayalon Highway. It travels south-easterly, passing Mikve Yisrael, Holon's industrial zones, and Azor. It then crosses Highway 4 at HaShiv'a Interchange. This section is named HaShiv'a Road in memory of seven guards killed in 1948. Southeast of HaShiv'a Interchange the road crosses Beit Dagan Junction with Route 412, which connects it with Rishon Letzion and Yehud. The road then passes the Volkani Institute, the Tzrifin Military base, Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center and various industrial parks.

As Highway 44 enters the municipality of Ramla, it is briefly named Herzl Boulevard. Historically, the road continued straight through beautiful downtown Ramla. Since the mid-1990s, the road makes a left turn at Ramla North Junction onto HaHashmoa'im Street, bypassing Ramla along its northern edge. Just east of Ramla, the road passes Ramlod Interchange with Highway 40 and rejoins the original route, continuing past the Nesher Industrial Zone and the Nesher Cement Factory, one of the most impressive landmarks in the area.

Historically, just past Nesher, the road connected at Gezer Junction with Route 424 to the Gezer Regional Council. That junction was moved 1 km. further south to accommodate Nesharim Interchange with Highway 6 and Route 431. The road then continues past several agricultural communities until Nachshon Junction. Until this point, the road has travelled with almost no changes in elevation, averaging 75 meters above sea level. After Nachshon Junction, it begins a slow ascent into the foothills of the Judean Mountains, passing several more agricultural communities and national forests. The road finally ends at Shimshon Junction with Highway 38.

History

For centuries prior, while Jaffa and its seaport served as the gateway into Palestine, the section of Highway 44 between Jaffa and Ramla formed part of the historic highway connecting Jaffa to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The historic highway then followed modern highway 424 to Latrun, and continued to Jerusalem along the route of modern Highway 1.

After the establishment of the State, this road operated for many years as one of the main routes connecting the coastal plain with Jerusalem via Highway 38 and Sha'ar HaGai (Bab al-Wad). In 1948, the Latrun section of the old road to Jerusalem (Highway 1) was taken over by Jordan. Traffic between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was diverted to a new route called "Kvish HaGvura" (Road of Valor) of which Highway 44 served as the connection between Nachshon Junction and Shimshon Junction with Highway 38 leading to Sha'ar HaGai.

Future

The Israel Ministry of Transport has announced a grade separation of Highway 44 with the Lod-Na'an Railway line at HaHashmonain Street adjacent to Ramla North Junction. The road will be raised to pass over the rail line. The estimated completion date is 2014 and the cost will be 160M Shekels.

Junctions and Interchanges

Km	Name	Type	Meaning	Location	Intersecting routes
0	מחלף חולון (Holon Interchange)	File:ILramzor2.svg File:ILjunction-holon.png	named after biblical location (little) sand	Tel Aviv-Yafo, Holon	from Derech Ben-Zvi, File:ISR-FW-20.svg Highway 20 Levi Eshkol Blvd
Derech HaShiv'a
2.4		File:ILramzor2.svg		Holon, Azor	HaMakhtesh St.
2.9	צומת אזור (Azor Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg		Azor	Herzl St.
3.3		File:ILramzor2.svg		Holon	HaMelakha St.
3.7		File:ILramzor2.svg		Azor	Kaplan St.
4.8	מחלף השבעה (HaShiv'a Interchange)	File:ILramzor2.svg File:ILjunction-hashiva.png	The Seven	Holon, Azor, Mishmar HaShiv'a	File:ISR-HW4.png Highway 4
5.4	westbound only	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG		Mishmar HaShiv'a	Tzvi Zeira St.
6.1	צומת בית דגן (Beit Dagan Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	named after ancient location House of Dagon	Rishon LeZion Beit Dagan	File:ISR-HW-412.svg Route 412
9	צומת כפר חב"ד (Kfar Chabad Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Chabad Village	Kfar Habad	File:ISR-HW-4402.svg Road 4402
9.7	צומת ראשון מזרח (Rishon Mizrah Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Rishon East	Rishon LeZion	Derech Chaim Herzog
10.4	צומת צריפין (Tzrifin Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	named after former location	Tzrifin Military Base, Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center, Camp Yadin	entrance roads
11.1		File:ILramzor2.svg		Tzrifin Industrial Park, Sochnut Warehouses	local road
11.7		File:ILramzor2.svg		New Wholesale Market, Kiryat Shlomo Industrial Park, Nir Tzvi Industrial Park	local roads
12.7	צומת ניר צבי (Nir Tzvi Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Zvi's Meadow	Be'er Ya'akov, Nir Tzvi	Arava St., File:ISR-HW-4313.svg Road 4313
14.1	Railway Crossing 2 tracks	File:Fareskilt 24.PNG		Ramla
Herzl Boulevard
14.5	צומת רמלה צפון (Ramla North Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Ramla North	Ramla	Herzl Blvd.
HaHashmona'im Street
14.9	Railway Crossing 2 tracks	File:Fareskilt 24.PNG		Ramla
15		File:ILramzor2.svg		Ramla Lod	HaHasmal St. to Yoseftal St.
15.4	north-westbound only	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG		Ramla Lod	Shmuel Tamir St.
16.4	צומת מעשיהו (Ma'asiyahu Junction) also called צומת תעבורה (Ta'avura Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	name for nearby Prison Transport	Ramla Lod	File:ISR-HW434.png Route 434 (Tel-Hai St.)
17.2	מחלף רמלוד (Ramlod Interchange)	File:ILramzor2.svg File:ILjunction-ramlod.png	combination of Ramla and Lod	Ramla Lod	File:ISR-HW-40.svg Highway 40
17.8	south-eastbound only	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG		Ramla (east), al Mahta	Herzl Blvd.
18.1		File:ILramzor2.svg		Nesher Industrial Zone	Har Atzmon St.
18.7	צומת נשר (Nesher Junction)		Eagle, named after nearby Nesher Cement Factory & ult. Rambam, the great Eagle	Nesher Cement Factory
19	מחלף נשרים (Nesharim Interchange)	File:ILramzor2.svg File:ILjunction-nesharim.png	Eagles	Ramla, Lod, Yad Rambam	File:ISR-FW-6.svg Highway 6 File:ISR-HW-431.svg Route 431
20	צומת גזר (Gezer Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Carrot	Gezer Regional Council	File:ISR-HW424.png Route 424
20.4		File:ILramzor2.svg			exit from File:ISR-FW-6.svg Highway 6 northbound
22.8	צומת בית אוזיאל (Beit Uziel Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	House of Uziel	Beit Uziel	local road
24.3	צומת פתחיה (Petahya Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	Entrance of God	Petahya, Pedaya	File:ISR-HW-4243.svg Road 4243
27.4	צומת כרמי יוסף (Karmei Yosef Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	Yosef's Vineyards	Karmei Yosef	File:ISR-HW-4243.svg Road 4243
30.4	צומת נחשון (Nahshon Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Pioneer (literary Hebrew) named after Operation Nachshon	Mishmar David, Tal Shahar, Bekoa	File:ISR-HW-3.svg Highway 3
Derech HaGvura
32	צומת צלפון (Tzelafon Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	named after ancient location possibly after Zelelponith ult. Shade come upon me	Tzelafon Gizo	HaZayit St.
33.2	צומת הראל (Har'el Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	named after Harel Brigade ult. Mountain of God	Har'el	File:ISR-HW-4243.svg Road 4243
34.4	צומת כפר אוריה (Kfar Uria Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	ult. remembrance of biblical story of Samson's encounter with the lion at Timnah	Kfar Uria	File:ISR-HW-4243.svg Road 4243
36.9	צומת תרום (Tarum Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	Exalted	Tarum	File:ISR-HW-4243.svg Road 4243
37.1	צומת תעוז (Ta'oz Junction)	File:Fareskilt 20.PNG	Stronghold	Ta'oz	File:ISR-HW-4243.svg Road 4243
41.1	צומת שמשון (Shimshon Junction)	File:ILramzor2.svg	Named after biblical character Samson	Eshtaol, Beit Shemesh	File:ISR-HW-38.svg Highway 38

See also

• List of highways in Israel