Highway 9 (Israel)

The Jerusalem segment of Highway 9 was established by the Jerusalem Municipality through the Moriah Jerusalem Development Corporation.[1] Its primary purpose was to reduce traffic congestion at the entrance to Jerusalem and provide a fast entry and exit route for the city's northern neighborhoods.[1] The road runs through Emek ha-Arazim, linking the Motza junction with the Ramot junction and connecting with Begin Boulevard at the foot of Har Hotzvim.[2]

Plans reported in 2008 treated Highway 9 as the northern section of a broader Jerusalem beltway intended to let traffic travel west toward Tel Aviv or east toward the Dead Sea without passing through the city center.[3] At that time, the proposed eastern section—from East Talpiot to A-Tur and involving tunnels and a bridge over the Kidron Valley—remained unresolved with the Jerusalem Development Authority.[3]

Construction of the Jerusalem segment was underway by 2006, and the road opened to traffic at the end of 2007.[2][1] The route is approximately two kilometers long and features two tunnels, each 400 meters in length.[1] Five bridges run along the road, three of which connect it directly with national Highway 1.[1]

The road was built to environmental standards, including a specially formulated asphalt surface designed to absorb vehicle noise.[1] The measure formed part of the environmental standards applied along the Emek ha-Arazim route. The Motza Interchange is identified as being on Highway 9.[4]

The Ministry of Education guide associates the Highway 9 area at Jerusalem's western approach with the commemoration of former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, but identifies Derech Yitzhak Shamir itself as a section of Highway 1 between the Sha'ar Moriah and Yigal Yadin interchanges.[1] The guide also describes the numbered road segment ascending toward Jerusalem as commemorating Shamir and reproduces remarks from a dedication ceremony honoring his connection to the city.[1]

In February 2021, work was continuing on a NIS 330 million project to expand Highway 1 at Jerusalem's entrance. The project included widening the inbound road from the Motza Interchange—identified in the report as Highway 9—toward Givat Shaul.[4] The full 2.4-kilometer project also included a bidirectional public-transport route, geometric road changes, traffic-lane regulation, and landscaping, and was expected at the time to be completed by mid-2021.[4] The opening of outbound lanes at the Sakharov Interchange marked completion of another stage of the initiative.[4]

A separate French Hill tunnels project broke ground in 2020 and was reported in 2022 as intended in part to provide a future rapid connection to Highway 9 and onward to Highway 1 toward Tel Aviv.[5] The project comprised four tunnel systems totaling approximately 3.5 kilometers beneath northern Jerusalem: two two-lane east–west tunnels connecting Jerusalem with Ma'ale Adumim, and two one-lane tunnels linking Ramot with Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Ya'akov in both directions.[5] The schedule reported in 2022 called for completion by 2024.[5]

A geographically separate road in northern Israel carries the same Route 9 designation. This road connects Route 4 with Route 6 in the Hadera area and serves the Hefer Valley settlements, functioning as an express route in northern Israel.[6] Its western section opened to traffic on July 24, 2014.[6] The eastern section followed on May 30, 2016, enabling a direct connection between Hadera and the Hefer Valley settlements and Route 6.[7]