Route 417 (Israel–Judea and Samaria)

The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics lists Route 417 as road segment 810 in its table of non-urban roads, including roads in Judea and Samaria. The documented segment runs for 8 kilometers from Adumim Interchange to the entrance of Kedar.[1]

Ma'ale Adumim lies in the northern Judean Desert, approximately 8.5 kilometers east of Jerusalem.[4] An Israeli government infrastructure document states that Route 1 borders the city to the north and National Road 47 borders it to the west. Those roads meet at Adumim Interchange, the city's main entrance.[4] The available sources establish that the CBS-listed Route 417 segment begins at this interchange, but they do not identify it with Route 1 or National Road 47.

The available sources use the number 417 in several contexts. The Central Bureau of Statistics applies it to the Adumim Interchange–Kedar segment.[1] A Ynet traffic report dated June 21, 2011, reported congestion on Route 417 between Beit Hahayim Square and Givat Shaul Junction in Jerusalem.[3] A 2013 Jerusalem Institute publication also shows the label “417” near Ramot Eshkol, Sheikh Jarrah, and the Eshkol Junction on a route toward Ma'ale Adumim.[2] Neither source explains how its use of the number relates to the CBS-listed segment.

A separate 2010 Jerusalem Post letters page uses “417” for an Egged bus line associated with travel between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem. The editor's note states that Egged registered it as a mehadrin bus line, although it generally was not operated as one in practice.[5] That bus designation should not be conflated with the numbered road.

During the three-year period from 2016 through 2018, the Central Bureau of Statistics recorded eight injury-causing traffic accidents on the Adumim Interchange–Kedar segment: three in 2016, four in 2017, and one in 2018.[1] Seven accidents were classified as light and one as serious; no fatal accidents were recorded.[1]

The table gives an accident rate of 5.5 per million vehicle-kilometers and an average daily traffic volume of 10,000 vehicles for the same period.[1] These figures apply specifically to the 8-kilometer segment identified as road segment 810, not necessarily to every source's use of the Route 417 designation.

Regional studies provide context for transportation around Adumim Interchange and Ma'ale Adumim, but they do not identify the CBS-listed Route 417 segment with Highway 1, the Jerusalem–Jericho road, the E1 bypass, or other proposed projects. A Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs study identifies Highway 1 as the main arterial through the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim and does not designate that arterial as Route 417.[6]

The study places E1 between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim and states that it lies in Area C under the Oslo II Interim Agreement, where Israel retained security responsibility and civilian authority over zoning and planning.[6] It describes E1 as bordering or adjoining Abu Dis, Azariya, A-Zaim, Isawiya, Anata, Highway 1, and Road 437 near the Hizme checkpoint.[6]

From its stated Israeli strategic perspective, the study characterizes the Jerusalem–Jericho road as important for moving forces toward the Jordan Valley and northward during a possible eastern-front conflict. It also presents the territory between Jerusalem, Ma'ale Adumim, and the Dead Sea as strategic depth for the defense of Jerusalem and Israel's eastern approaches.[6]

The Washington Institute reported that, alongside approval in principle of a security-fence route around the Ma'ale Adumim bloc, Israel decided to construct a north–south Palestinian road through the area between Jerusalem's eastern outskirts and the bloc. The proposal was intended to address concerns that the fence could sever links between the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas or require a substantial detour.[7]

Route 417 appears by number on Map 10 of a 2013 Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies publication. The map places the label near Sheikh Jarrah, Ramot Eshkol, Lafatwa, the Eshkol Junction, and a route toward Ma'ale Adumim.[2] It depicts transportation arrangements proposed under the Geneva Initiative, but the publication does not provide a prose definition of Route 417 or establish its relationship to the CBS-listed Adumim Interchange–Kedar segment.[2]

The Geneva Initiative proposal included a Palestinian road tunnel beginning near Sheikh Jarrah, passing beneath Highway 60, and ending near the French Hill Junction. One exit would lead toward Shuafat Refugee Camp and Highway 1, while another would lead toward Shuafat and Highway 443.[2] The proposal also called for a bridge east of the Eshkol Junction linking Lafatwa and Sheikh Jarrah, as well as additional connections toward Shuafat and Beit Hanina.[2] Under the proposal, the Eshkol Junction would become the only Israeli access point to the highway toward Ma'ale Adumim following a permanent-status agreement.[2]

Separately, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs study describes an Israeli-proposed north–south bypass, termed a “fabric-of-life road,” between Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim bloc. The proposed road was intended to connect the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas while preserving the Israeli transportation link between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim.[6] The study says Israel expropriated 1,408 dunams in September 2007 from lands belonging to Abu Dis, A-Sawahra a-Sarkia, Nebi Musa, and Khan al-Ahmar for the bypass. It also states that the section between Hizme and the A-Zaim checkpoint was paved through a tunnel beneath the Jerusalem–Ma'ale Adumim road at a cost of nearly NIS 300 million.[6] The source does not identify this bypass as Route 417.