Route 411 (Israel)

Highway 411
כביש 411
Route information
Length:	16.7 km (10.4 mi) 18 km (11 mi) upon completion of connection
Component highways:	Road 4121, Road 4122, Road 4123, Hulda Road
Major junctions
west end:	West Rehovot Junction
	Gvirol Interchange Brenner Junction Hulda Interchange (planned)
east end:	Hulda Junction
Location
Major cities:	Rehovot, Kiryat Ekron, Mazkeret Batya, Hulda
Highway system
Roads in Israel Highways

Route 411 (Hebrew: כביש 411‎), is the designation of a regional route in the Shephelah region in Israel running southeasterly consolidating previous local roads. It is currently 16.7 km long consisting of two sections without a direct connection between them. The western section begins at Highway 42 near Kfar Gevirol in western Rehovot and terminates just past Route 410. The eastern section begins just short of Highway 40 south of Rehovot and terminates at Highway 3 towards Jerusalem, bypassing the towns of Kiryat Ekron and Mazkeret Batya.

Route description

The western section of the road starts at Rehovot Ma'arav Junction with Highway 42. This section was previously labeled Road 4121. It runs south-east for approximately 2 km to the newly built elevated Gvirol Junction with Route 410 above the Lod - Ashkelon Railway. It then continues 1.4 km as Road 4122 (Derech Yom HaKippurim), terminating at a traffic circle at Derech Sheshet HaYamim. At this point there is a 1.3 km gap in the road. Drivers can take a 3.6 km detour via local streets in Rehovot to connect to the eastern section.

The eastern section begins as Road 4123 adjacent to Kvutzat Shiller and Givat Brenner, running 1.9 km to Brenner Junction with Highway 40 adjacent to Kiryat Ekron. After Brenner Junction, the road is known as the Hulda Road, It begins by running south with two junctions and a roundabout providing access to Bilu Center, a major outdoor shopping center and Kiryat Ekron. This section is undivided, with one lane in each direction and is often congested, especially during weekends and holidays. The road then turns south-east, becoming a dual-carriageway for approximately 2.4 km while bypassing Kiryat Ekron and providing access to Mazkeret Batya.

Halfway between the two entrances to Mazkeret Batya, the road is once again downgraded to a single-carriageway for 7.8 km with an at-grade crossing of the Tel Aviv - Be'er Sheva Railway, a bridge over Highway 6 and an underpass under the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem Railway. It passes the entrance to Kibbutz Hulda first settled in 1909, hence the road's historic name. Further east, the road becomes more winding, passing the Hulda Forest, crossing the Shoham Stream and passing the entrance to Mishmar David before terminating at Hulda Junction with Highway 3.

History

The bypass of Mazkeret Batya and Kiryat Ekron was originally built in the 1960s and was only slightly improved until 2000 when the National Roads Authority began a project to upgrade this section to dual-carriageway standards. These works included the construction of the temporary roundabout at Bilu Center, however they were stopped two years later due to lack of funds, leaving the road in its poor current state. The only section completed as a dual-carriageway is between Beit Elazari and Mazkeret Batya. Traffic lights were added to two of the junctions on this section in 2007.

The bridge over Highway 6 was built in 2002 by Derech Eretz, the Highway 6 operator. The underpass under the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem Railway opened in February 2009

The western section was partially opened between Highway 42 and Kfar Gevirol, without the connection to Route 410, on August 18, 2008. It was built as part of a major project to build a grade separation between Route 410 and the Lod - Ashkelon Railway, replacing a dangerous at-grade crossing. The bridge above the railway as well as the junction with Route 410 opened on February 28, 2009.

Future plans

There are plans to complete the missing 1.3 km long central section as a western bypass of Rehovot. Work is expected to be completed by March 2014.^[1] The National Roads Company of Israel published tenders in 2012 to complete this section.^[2] In the meantime, the city of Rehovot has built an inner bypass which can serve as a temporary connection between the two sections.

Plans to build an interchange with Highway 6 were approved, and as of early 2009, Derech Eretz was seeking government funding for such a connection.

There are also plans to upgrade all of Route 411 to dual-carriageway, including a grade separation that is under construction in 2011-2012 with the Railway to Beersheba and a new bridge to replace the dangerous curve over Shaham Stream.

Junctions (west to east)

km	Name	Type	Meaning	Location	Road(s) Crossed
Road 4121
0	רחובות מערב (Rehovot Ma'arav)		West Rehovot	Rehovot	Route 42
1.4				Rehovot	Harduf St. Derech Ben Gurion
1.9	צומת גבירול (Gvirol Junction)		named after adjacent neighborhood ult. Solomon ibn Gabirol	Rehovot Ge'alya	Route 410 south to Yavne
2.0	railway overpass			Lod-Ashkelon Railway
2.1	צומת גבירול (Gvirol Junction)			Rehovot	Route 410 north (Derech HaYam)
Road 4122 / Derech Yom HaKippurim
3.4				Rehovot Gibton	Derech Sheshet HaYamim, Loa HaAri St.
incomplete section 3.6 km detour possible through Rehovot via Sheshet HaYamim, Shimon Dubnov, Ben Tzion Fogel, Hazit HaDarom, Shimshon Tzur and David Nuttman Streets
Road 4123
4.7				Rehovot, Gibton Kvutzat Shiller (Gan Shlomo)	Derech David Nuttman
5				Givat Brenner	local road
5.2				Givat Brenner	local road
Hulda Road
6.6	צומת ברנר (Brenner Junction)		named after Yosef Haim Brenner	Givat Brenner, Kiryat Ekron, Rehovot, Kfar Bilu	Highway 40
6.8				Bilu Center
7.1				Bilu Center
7.8				Kiryat Ekron, Ekron 2000 Industrial Park	Yitzhak Rabin Blvd., King Hassan II St.
8.3				Beit Elazari, Tel Nof Airbase	HaRimon St.
8.8				Kiryat Ekron	Marvad HaKsamim St.
9.8				Mazkeret Batya, Ganei Yohanan	Rotschild Blvd.
10.5				Mazkeret Batya	Motta Gur Blvd.
12.1	railway crossing			Tel Aviv-Be'er Sheva Railway
planned
12.7	מחלף חולדה (Hulda Interchange)			Mazkeret Batya Hulda	Highway 6
13.8	railway underpass			Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Railway
14.8				Hulda	entrance road
17.3				Mishmar David	entrance road
18	צומת חולדה (Hulda Junction)		named after location ult. after former town	Tal Shahar	Highway 3

References

Coordinates: 31°51′34.0″N 34°48′56.0″E / 31.859444°N 34.815556°E / 31.859444; 34.815556