Route 431 (Israel)

Lod - Rishon LeZion Railway entering the median strip south of Nes Ziona Interchage

Route 431 (Template:Lang-he), is a suburban freeway in the south of the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area in Israel. The freeway connects the Ayalon Highway in the west with Highway 1 in the east. It then continues east into Modi'in as a local road.

The freeway has six lanes (three in each direction) over a total length of 21 km. There is also a short Collector/Distributor system between Rishon Darom and Nes Ziona Interchanges. There are 12 interchanges along its length, 5 of them freeway to freeway interchanges. There are also 54 km of service roads, including exits and entrance ramps.

The design of the freeway includes a right of way for a double track railway in its median between Ein Ha'Kore and Modi'in and railway sections are currently operational between Be'er Yaakov and HaRishonim Interchange and between the Anava Interchange and Modi'in.

Route 431 is the first PFI project in Israel. Netivey HaYovel, a subsidiary of Danya Cebus and Africa Israel Investments Ltd., was awarded the 25 year tender to build, maintain and operate the freeway. As of February 2009, the cost of the freeway had been 2.5 billion NIS (approximately 620 million USD). Following the completion of the freeway in February 2009, the company is expecting a 200 million NIS (50 million USD) grant from the state ^[1].

History

Construction started in 2005 and the road was fully opened on February 4, 2009.

A section of the highway between Mevo Ayalon Interchange and Gan Ha'Vradim Interchange was set to open on October 23, 2008, approximately 3 months ahead of schedule. However, on October 22 it was announced that the opening will be postponed for at least two weeks due to Netivey HaYovel's failure to complete the required environmental mitigation, as was the case of Jerusalem Route 9^[2]. The road finally opened on November 12, after Danya Cebus agreed to place several million NIS as a guarantee that the required works will be carried out. ^[3].

The second section between Gan Ha'Vradim Interchange and Anava Interchange opened on the evening of February 4, 2009^[4].

Although the freeway is now fully opened, there is some work left around it. At Ein Ha'Kore, the Road 4311 bridge over Highway 42 has not been completed leaving a traffic light at what is planned to be a grade-separated freeway segment, and at Nesharim Interchange the western exits have yet to open. Also, Route 423 south of Nes Ziona Interchange has not yet been built, although this road is not under the responsibility of Netivey HaYovel. There is also some environmental mitigation still required.

The local road in Modi'in was partially opened together with the freeway, initially with one lane in each direction. Construction on this section is expected to be completed in September 2009 and will provide for a limited-access, multiple lane, grade-separated highway all the way from the Ayalon Highway near the Mediterranean coast to the entrance to Modi'in.

Interchanges

km	Name	Meaning	Location	Road(s) Crossed
0	מחלף מבוא איילון (Mevo Ayalon Interchange)	Ayalon Gateway	Rishon LeZion	File:ISR-HW20.PNG (Ayalon Highway northbound)
1	מחלף קרית ראשון (Kiryat Rishon Interchange)	Named after location	Rishon LeZion	Mota Gur St.
2	מחלף ראשון דרום (Rishon Darom Interchange)	South Rishon	Rishon LeZion	(Highway 4 southbound)
3	מחלף עין הקורא (En Ha'Kore Interchange)		Rishon LeZion	File:ISR-HW42.PNG (Highway 4 northbound / Highway 42 / Road 4311)
5	מחלף הראשונים (HaRishonim Interchange)	Named after neighborhood and railway station	Rishon LeZion, Ness Ziona	(Route 412)
7	מחלף נס ציונה (Nes Ziona Interchange)	Named after location	Rishon LeZion, Ness Ziona, Be'er Ya'akov	Route 423 / Shlomo Ben Yosef St.
Planned
9	מחלף רמלה מערב (Ramle Ma'arav Interchange)	West Ramle	Ramle	Route 200
11	מחלף רמלה דרום (Ramle Darom Interchange)	South Ramle	Ramle	(Highway 40)
14	מחלף נשרים (Nesharim Interchange)	Named after nearby Nesher Factory	Ramle	File:ISR-HW44.PNGFile:ISR-HW424.PNG (Highway 6 / Highway 44 / Route 424)
Planned
17	מחלף רג"מ (Ragam Interchange)			Local road to Ramle's quarry
20	מחלף ענבה (Anava Interchange)	Berry	Kfar Shmuel	(Highway 1)