Highway 5 (Israel–Palestine)

Highway 5 or the Trans-Samaria Highway (Hebrew: כביש חוצה שומרון‎, Kvish Hotze Shomron), is one of Israel's main highways, connecting the Mediterranean coast immediately north of Tel Aviv with the central Sharon plain and eastwards to Ariel and other Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank.

Highway 5
כביש 5 / כביש חוצה שומרון Kvish Hameish / Kvish Hotze Shomron
Trans-Samaria Highway
Route information
Length	37 km (23 mi)
Major junctions
West end	Tel Aviv (Glilot Junction)
	Glilot Interchange Morasha Interchange Yarkon Interchange Kessem Interchange
East end	Ariel
Location
Major cities	Ramat HaSharon, Hod HaSharon, Petah Tikva, Rosh HaAyin,
Highway system
Roads in Israel Highways

The name Highway 5 is commonly used to describe a section of the highway running from the road's western end at the Glilot Interchange until where it until it reaches the main entrance of Ariel. In this capacity it intersects and creates a connection between four important arterial freeways in the northern Tel Aviv area: The Coastal Highway (Highway 2), the Ayalon Highway (Highway 20), Geha Highway (Highway 4) and the Cross-Israel Highway (Highway 6).[1]

An alternate name for the entire highway is Kvish Hotze Shomron (Cross-Samaria highway) though often this name is used when referring specifically to the section of the road in the West Bank, i.e., past the Green Line, where it continues east towards the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. This section from the Green Line to its eastern end has also been dedicated as "Derekh Haim" (Haim's Road, but also "Way of Life") after the late Haim Landau, a former Israeli Minister of Transportation.

Highway 5 initially reached Rosh HaAyin inside the green line, and served mainly the densely populated Gush Dan area. In the West Bank, the main road was still the old Road 505, which since the events of the Second Intifada in 2000 is partially closed to Jewish transportation.[2] In the beginning of the 1990s, with the growth of Ariel and the settlements around it, arose the need for a more modern and wider road, than the single-lane low-quality Road 505. Therefore, Highway 5 was extended some 20 km to the east of the Green Line, ending almost within sight of Ariel and serving the largest block of the Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank counting about 50,000 people, as well as the Barkan Industrial Park. At the time, this section of Highway 5 was one of the biggest infrastructure projects that Israel had undertaken in the West Bank.[3][4] As of 2017 the road terminates at a roundabout at the Ariel junction where it merges into Road 505 which continues east past Ariel until Petza'el, which is located on Route 90, the north–south road parallel to the Israel-Jordan border in the Jordan Valley.

The western section of the highway consists of between 3 and 5 lanes in each direction, that reduce in number as the highway heads eastward. The westward section surrounding Gush Dan is as of 2017 one of the most congested in Israel.[5][6]

Highway 531, is a freeway which parallels Highway 5 runs approximately 5–6 km to the north, was opened in 2017, and also contains a rail system. A toll fast lane project is planned along Highway 5.[6]

Interchanges and Junctions

Highway 5 near Ramat HaSharon.

km	Name	Type	Meaning	Location	Road(s) Crossed
0	מחלף גלילות מערב (Glilot Ma'arav Interchange)		West Glilot	Tel Aviv	Highway 2
1	מחלף גלילות מזרח (Glilot Mizrah Interchange)		East Glilot	Tel Aviv (israel)	Highway 20 (Israel)
1.7	מחלף שדרות ירוב (Yariv Blvd. Interchange) eastbound only			Glilot Army Base	Aharon Yariv Blvd.
3.3	מחלף הכפר הירוק (HaKfar HaYarok Interchange)		Named after nearby HaKfar HaYarok	Ramat HaSharon Tel Aviv	Route 482
5.8	מחלף מורשה (Morasha Interchange)		Named after location	Ramat HaSharon (Morasha quarter)	Highway 4
8	מחלף תקווה (Tikva Interchange)		Named after location	Petah Tikva, Yarkon Cemetery	Zevulun Hammer Road
10.5	מחלף ירקון (Yarkon Interchange)		Named after nearby Yarkon River	Petah Tikva Hod HaSharon	Highway 40
13.5	מחלף קסם (Kessem Interchange)		Named after nearby Kafr Qasim	Rosh HaAyin	Highway 6 Route 444
17	מחלף ראש העין מזרח (Rosh HaAyin Mizrah Interchange)		Rosh HaAyin East	Rosh HaAyin Kafr Qasim	Road 5050
19.4	Green Line
21	מחלף שער שומרון (Sha'ar Shomron Interchange)		Samaria Gate	to Oranit, Elkana, stone quarry	Route 505
22	Qasim Security Checkpoint
↑NO westbound through-traffic for green (Palestinian Authority) license plates↑
33	מחלף ברוכין (Bruchin Interchange)		Named after location	Bruchin Bruqin	Route 446
35	מחלף ברקן (Barkan Interchange)		Named after location	Barkan Barkan Industrial Park Ariel West Industrial Zone	Road 4765
37	צומת גיתי (Gitai Junction)		Named after Gitai Avisar	Haris Revava	Route 505
40	צומת אריאל (Ariel Junction)		Named after location	Ariel Kifl Haris	Route 505

References

1. Fodor's Essential Israel, Fodor's Travel Guides, Car Travel
2. Hotze Shomron Reopens Without IDF Checkpoint, YNET, 24 Oct 2000
3. "Kvish Hotze Shomron - Splits the People", Mapam Demonstrators Shouted at Dedication of Road, Maariv, 7 Aug 1987
4. The Road is Not a Luxury, Maariv, 9 August 1987
5. The Solution to Traffic Jams: Half a Road for Buses and Half for Rich People, TheMarker, 13 Sep 2016
6. Millions of Commuters Stuck on the Roads: 10 Worst Traffic Jams in Israel: Route 5: An Hour and a Half From Rosh Hayin to Tel-Aviv, Haaretz, 22 May 2017