Highway 77 (Israel)

Highway 77 runs in a roughly east–west direction across the Lower Galilee in northern Israel.[4] Its eastern terminus lies in the Tiberias area, where it meets Highway 90.[5] Traveling westward, the road passes through Golani Junction, where it intersects Highway 65 — a north–south artery running between the Wadi Ara area and Kadarim Junction.[1] Continuing west, it reaches HaMovil Junction, officially identified as the meeting point of Highways 77 and 79, situated between Nazareth and Shfar'am and west of the Beit Netofa reservoir.[6] The highway proceeds through the Ramat Yishai area before connecting southwestward to the northern section of Route 6 and onward toward the Yokne'am Tunnel.[2]

A 2025 government document uses Golani Junction — the meeting point of Highways 77 and 65 — as part of a regional boundary, which then follows the listed route toward Ka'ura Junction at Highway 716.[5] The highway also passes through the Nahal Yiftah'el area, where a hiking trail crosses it through an underground passage before continuing toward the access road to Kafr Kaʿabiyya.[7] HaMovil Junction serves as a hiking endpoint, with an alternative terminus at a Paz gas station located one kilometer east of the interchange.[7]

The Golani Interchange, located north of Afula and west of Tiberias at the junction of Highways 65 and 77, was described at its dedication as a gateway to the Upper Galilee.[8] In 2011, plans identified it as the first of seven new interchanges intended to create a traffic-light-free corridor between central Israel and the north, as part of an eastern route linking Amiad Junction to Tishbi Junction and ultimately to Route 6.[1] The interchange also formed part of a larger NIS 27.5 billion national initiative to link Kiryat Shmona with Highway 6 and central Israel.[8]

The interchange road opened in August 2013 and was officially dedicated in September of that year.[8] A 2011 planning report estimated its cost at approximately NIS 350 million, while the 2013 dedication report placed the project cost at approximately NIS 300 million.[1][8] Transport Minister Yisrael Katz articulated the long-term ambition at the dedication: to allow travelers to drive from Kiryat Shmona to Tel Aviv and the Negev without passing through a single traffic light.[8] Before the interchange opened, the stretch between Ramat Yishai and Yokne'am experienced severe twice-daily congestion — many thousands of drivers could spend up to an hour covering only four kilometers.[4] The old road continued serving local traffic after the new section opened.[4]

In December 2012, Highway 77 was among the Israeli highways whose speed limit was scheduled to rise to 110 kilometers per hour, a 10 km/h increase on selected busy roads, with new signs to be posted in the following days.[9] Earlier, in January 2011, the speed limit on the section between Yishai Junction and Tiberias had been scheduled to rise to 100 km/h.[10]

In 2016, the Ministry of Transport and Netivei Israel announced the construction of four additional interchanges along Highway 77 between the Golani and HaMovil interchanges: Tur'an, Beit Rimon, Tziporit, and Hosh'aya.[3] The estimated construction cost for the four interchanges was NIS 360 million, and a separate project was announced to replace the signalized intersection at Ramat Yishai.[3]

The project was designed to provide continuous, uninterrupted travel along Highway 77 as a divided highway with two lanes in each direction, while maintaining direct access to communities, businesses, and Israel Defense Forces bases along the route.[3] Netivei Israel described it as strategically important for connecting peripheral areas in the north with central Israel. Planning emphasized the project's rural and environmentally friendly character, including special bridges and passages for farmers and pedestrians.[3]

In 2017, an upgrade of Highway 77 between Tel Kashish and Ramat Yishai was announced as Israel's first road pilot to be carried out under the American Greenroads infrastructure standard.[11] The project was to be undertaken by Solel Boneh of the Shikun & Binui Group, at an overall reported cost of approximately NIS 300 million, with around NIS 500,000 attributed specifically to meeting Greenroads requirements.[11]

The Greenroads system evaluates transportation projects across environmental, economic, and social criteria over a project's full life cycle.[11] Planned measures on Highway 77 included stakeholder and community participation, infrastructure upgrades and relocations near affected communities, a dedicated bicycle path alongside the road, recycled-material use, invasive-vegetation treatment, an air-pollution prevention plan for construction, and provisions addressing road safety and quality.[11] The completed section south of the Yishai Interchange was placed below the level of Highway 722.[2]

Upon completion of the Highway 77 upgrade program, approximately NIS 1 billion had been invested in the corridor.[2] Netivei Israel said nine signalized intersections were converted into interchanges or partial interchanges; the accompanying report named Tur'an, Beit Rimon, Tziporit, Hosh'aya, Yishai, Alonim, HaShomrim, and Sde Ya'akov. It also reported that HaShomrim, Alonim, and Sde Ya'akov would continue operating as signalized internal roads serving local communities.[2] Existing local roads between communities were retained and upgraded rather than replaced.[2]

A 2019 ynet report described the finished network as enabling continuous travel without traffic lights from Amiad Junction in the Upper Galilee to Beersheba and Arad, over a distance of 266 kilometers.[2] Netivei Israel characterized the upgraded Highway 77 as a green road, built where possible with recycled materials and incorporating bicycle paths and animal crossings.[2] The route thus serves a dual function: a high-speed national corridor intended to reduce travel times and congestion for the northern periphery, and infrastructure designed to preserve local access while limiting its environmental footprint.