Netivei Israel, the country’s government-owned roads company, published a tender this week for a major expansion plan that would significantly cut travel time between Jerusalem and towns in Samaria.
The project will see the 11-mile section of Route 60, the main north-south highway in Judea and Samaria, between Sha’ar Binyamin outside Jerusalem and the British Police Junction near Ofra, widened by one lane in each direction, in addition to preparations for public transport lanes.
Work on the project, which is part of a larger plan to expand all of Route 60 from Israel’s capital until the Tapuach Junction near Ariel and further toward northern Samaria, is scheduled to commence later this year.
“Expanding the roads in this area is not only a basic need but also an important step security-wise,” said Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
“During the previous [government] period, the necessary steps of developing the roads were not taken here, and we are rectifying this,” Regev claimed. “The road from Jerusalem northwards will be expanded and doubled along its entire length; together, we are making history.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria, said: “Since the government started, we decided that there would be no discrimination in relation to settlement and the development of this part of the country; the expansion of Route 60 is a key expression of this. Entrenchment in the center of the country is the way to strengthen the State of Israel against the serious threats it is facing.”
The further expansion of Route 60 is expected to significantly relieve traffic congestion, shorten travel times and encourage economic and demographic growth in the Binyamin region of central Samaria.
“I am happy to inform you that the tender for the expansion of Route 60 in the section from Sha’ar Binyamin to the British Police [Junction] has been launched (a continuation of the expansion that is already in the works from Pisgat Ze’ev to Sha’ar Binyamin),” Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz wrote in a message to residents on Tuesday.
“At the end of the tender in a few months, the works will begin, and in less than four years, we will be able to travel on a new, wide road with two lanes and a public transportation lane in each direction,” he said.
“Together with the Ministry of Transport, we continue to promote the planning for the continuation of the road from the British Police Junction towards Shiloh, Eli and the Tapuach Junction,” he added.
In line with agreements reached between Smotrich and Regev last year, some 3.5 billion shekels ($949 million) of Israel’s state budget has been allocated to upgrading and paving new roads in Judea and Samaria until 2025. Of this, 2 billion shekels ($542 million) will go toward Route 60.
