Israel's new tunnel project

The 2602 Israel National Roads Company is opening the tender process for the project to drive new tunnels on Road no 1. The twin 650m long tunnels will replace the old Harel Bridge and form part of the project to upgrade the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv road. The new link will help reduce the incidence of traffic jams on the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The new tunnels will each carry three lanes and will pass under the Harel mountain ridge. Once complete, the tunnels will shorten the journey between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Next to the new interchange, a Park & Drive area will be constructed for the convenience of drivers coming to Jerusalem. The tunnels will be bored under the Harel interchange and the cost of the work is expected to cost some US$658 million (NIS 2.5 billion). The tender will be carried out under the design build method, with the contractor planning and executing the project according to the instructions of the Israel National Roads Company. Additional tenders were also revealed recently for Road No 1 with a series of works for upgrading of road No. 1. The tender included upgrading of the 6km long section from Sha'ar Hagay to the Shoresh interchange. The project includes elevating the road from the Sha'ar Hagay area in order to minimise boring, expanding the road to three lanes in both directions, and construction of an ecological bridge that will connect the two sides of the road and enable safe crossing for animals in the vicinity. Upgrading of road No 1 will improve the flow of traffic in one of Israel’s most important transport links. As part of the project, the dangerous road section known as the Motza turn will be removed, and instead two 800m long parallel bridges will be built, with three lanes each, that will cross the Motza valley. Asphalt paving works have commenced on the Krayot Bypass Road, with Section A of the road scheduled to open for traffic around August 2012. The Krayot Bypass road (road No 22), is 14km long and is being constructed at an investment of approximately $526 million (NIS 2 billion). It will provide a new route between Haifa and the Krayot, Acre and the western Galilee. The road will be an alternative to the existing road, which is now heavily congested.